FAISALABAD City News

FCCI begins negotiation with govt departments to resolve six major issues
FCCI chief says they support construction of Kalabagh Dam
From Our Correspondent
FAISALABAD: The Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) has started negotiation with the government departments to resolve six major problems identified by business and trade communities of Faisalabad during their joint meeting held early this month, said FCCI president Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz.
Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, he said that he would focus on the resolution of tax-related problems in addition to energy crisis, refund cases, abolition of TR charges, provision of gas during winter season, etc. He said that the business and trade communities of Faisalabad had a complete consensus that the problems should be resolved as early as possible and the chamber would certainly focus on them.
To a question regarding withholding tax on bank transactions, he said that 0.1 or 0.2 per cent withholding tax was not the core issue. The real problem was trust deficit between the business community and government departments, he added. He said that the people were reluctant to enter the tax net as they feared that they would be squeezed off if once they came into the tax net.
He said that the audit notices for fiscal year 2010 were served now which were very surprising. Similarly, the export was zero rated but notices were also being issued to the exporters. He said that billions of rupees of exporters had been stuck up with government in refund regime but they were forced to get fresh bank loans to run their businesses.
He said: “We want complete overhauling of the taxation system. We are ready to pay taxes but after the payment of due taxes no one should dare to question us.” Similarly, for the next five years, only reasonable enhancement in tax rate should be allowed, he said, adding that it would save the business community from the unnecessary hassles and they could fully concentrate on their business.
Regarding energy crisis, he said that the FCCI fully supported construction of dams, including Kalabagh Dam. The dams were vital to overcome loadshedding in addition to generating cheap electricity and storing enough water for irrigation purposes, he added.
FCCI senior vice-president Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain said that the business community was fully involved in welfare and uplift of Faisalabad. He particularly mentioned the Safe City and Green Faisalabad projects, up gradation of Faisalabad airport in addition to their active participation in other welfare projects.
Regarding economic importance of Faisalabad, he said that out of 13 billion dollar textile exports, the share of Faisalabad was 7 to 8 billion dollars. Regarding energy crisis, he said that the actual share of electricity for Faisalabad was 12.49 per cent in the national grid but it was getting only 12 per cent.