Tough decisions needed to fix country: governor

LAHORE:Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan paid tribute to the business community for working in difficult conditions as gas and power are expensive for agriculture and industry.

He along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi addressed the business community at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Regional Office here on Monday to resolve the issues of the business community.

The Punjab governor said that the country cannot recover without supporting the business community. Tough decisions are needed to fix the country and the process of punishment and appreciation needs to be improved, he said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said the country will develop if the agriculture and business community are supported. “The business community should be given security. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be a game changer for Pakistan. Erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) regions have concerns and the government should take stakeholder on board and resolve their issue. IPPs agreement is a burden on us. For national development, we should focus on youth and women, the governor said.

FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh, Regional Chairman and Vice President Zaki Aijaz, Vice President Zain Iftikhar, Vice President Qurrat ul Ain, Chairman Capital Office Karim Aziz Malik and former Minister for Trade and Industry and Patron in Chief UBG SM Tanveer said industries are also facing gas and power outages and expensive energy which is putting Pakistani products out of competition in the international markets along with the decline in industrial productivity. This problem also needs to be solved on priority. The cottage industry revolutionised Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. We also need to pay attention to this, and a policy should be made for this industry, they said.

FPCCI President Atif said the most important issue is the tax collection system and efficient tax revenue collection. Due to this, dependence on direct taxes and foreign loans is increasing. To deal with this, we need to emphasise tax reforms to increase the tax base and simplify the tax system, he added. He said privatisation is essential for increasing efficiency and speeding up economic growth.