SCCI, BOI vow to resolve business community issues

PESHAWAR: Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Board of Investment (BoI) Islamabad have decided to form a joint working group to resolve the business community issues as well as to attract investment in KP.

This will be done by creating a favourable business climate under the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ease of Doing Business’.

The decision was made during a meeting among SCCI President Sherbaz Bilour, BOI Additional Secretary Mukarram Jan Ansari and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade (KPBOIT) Chief Executive Officer Hassan Daud Butt here at the Chamber’s House on Thursday.

Besides, SCCI Senior Vice-President Manzoor Elahi, executive committee members, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority KP chief Rashid Aman and others were in attendance.

Sherbaz Bilour said KP was a lucrative destination for making investments. However, he termed the government’s initiatives for “Ease of Doing Business” as insufficient.

He said the SCCI in collaboration with relevant government departments, including KPBOIT was making efforts to attract investments, industrialization, especially resolution of issues of the KP business community.

The SCCI chief emphasized that the business community had played a pivotal role in the economic development of the country.

He urged the government to take pragmatic steps to facilitate the business community at all levels.

Sherbaz Bilour said the KP was a war-affected province as the business community had rendered matchless sacrifices, he noted.

However, he lamented that the constitutional rights of KP had always been usurped by the successive governments, which was highly unjustifiable and deplorable.

The SCCI chief called upon the government to offer a special economic relief package and incentives to attract investment in KP, especially in the tribal districts and provincial administrative tribal areas.

Mukaram Jah Ansari, while responding to different queries from the participants, said the BOI under PM’s vision, was taking practical measures in collaboration with provincial boards of investment to attract investment and create a favourable business environment in the country.

Admitting the sacrifices of KP business community in the war against terrorism and extremism, Ansari said the environment was quite favourable for making the investment in this region.

However, he acknowledged that the business community has confronted numerous problems owing to complicated laws and cumbersome procedures, which have slowed down industrial, trade and commercial activities in the province.

He said the BOI in collaboration with the KPBOIT was going to launch a programme aimed at facilitating the business community. He assured every possible step to resolve the issues of the traders.

He said that the condition of E and I forms for exports would be abolished, which may help improve exports.

Hassan Duad Butt, Muhammad Afzal, Engineer Manzoor Elahi, Zahoor Khan, Waqar Ahmad, Aftab Hayat, Rashid Aman and others also spoke on the occasion and gave several recommendations for an amicable resolution of business community issues.