LAHORE – Governor Punjab Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has promised continuous support to the business community.
Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday, he stressed measures to end the lack of trust between the government and the business community.
The Governor urged the government to formally consult the business community when making economic policies. He said that if policies are made with traders’ input, tax collection would also improve significantly. He promised to convey traders’ concerns to the Finance Minister and the Chairman of the PPP.
Sardar Saleem Haider said that skill development projects are also being carried out under the Benazir Income Support Programme. He said that Pakistan is facing a difficult situation because institutions are not being reformed over time. However, he expressed hope that through collective efforts, Pakistan can be turned into a strong and respected country.
LCCI President Faheem ur Rehman Saigol said that the biggest challenge facing the country today is a significant increase in the cost of doing business. He said that compared to other regional countries, Pakistan has the highest costs of electricity, gas, interest rates, and taxes, which have severely hurt the business environment. He added that Pakistan is also far behind in the global ease-of-doing-business rankings. Removing exporters from the final tax regime has damaged the export sector, while the rise in federal excise duty and raw material cost is forcing multinational companies to leave Pakistan.
He said that the government spends between 14 to 18 billion rupees every year on subsidies and grants for state-owned enterprises — an amount even higher than the latest IMF instalment. He said that tax reforms were introduced without consultation with traders, which caused losses to the business community. He suggested focusing on skill development instead of only giving cash assistance under the Benazir Income Support Programme. He also called for a new agriculture policy to meet the country’s food requirements.
He added that Bangladesh’s garment exports have reached 40 billion dollars, while Pakistan’s textile exports, despite being the main sector, have failed to cross 17 billion dollars. He said that political stability is essential for economic progress, and at this stage, Pakistan needs moral and ethical reforms even more than economic reforms. He also proposed forming a ten-year economic plan.
