Daily Times

Former Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said that he had played an active role in getting the GSP plus scheme from the European Union for Pakistan and he is still working hard to get an extension of this scheme for Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan would hopefully get the EU GSP Plus facility for the next ten years. However, he said that Bangladesh had increased its exports by five times with the GSP plus scheme of the EU, while Pakistan could not take full advantage of this facility. He emphasized that the business community sector should try to take full advantage of this facility in order to enhance exports to EU countries. He said this while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).

Ch. Muhammad Sarwar said that exports and remittances combined had brought around USD 300 billionáto Pakistan in the last five years, but even today we were forced to accept every condition of the IMF for just USD 2ábillion, which wasáthe outcome of our inappropriate strategy. He said that the business community had a key role in the development of the economy as it created jobs,ápromoted wealth creationáand boosted tax revenueáof the country. However about 20ádepartmentsáareáin pursuit of the business community due to which doing business in Pakistan is a difficult task.á

He said that many overseas Pakistanis had achieved great progress in various fields and if they were given better incentives and better protection in Pakistan, manyáof them wereákeen to invest in theiráhomeácountry. He said that if the government gave better incentives to overseas Pakistani pensioners, they could bring millions of dollars into the country. He said that the pensioners of the developed world wanted to live in cheap countries in their old age and Pakistan could take advantage of this situation.

He said that if the country’s 20 largest business groups were taken into confidence, they could help to pay off Pakistan’s debt. He further said that the real estate sector had the potential to discharge all the debt of Pakistan, but they needed to be taken into confidence in that regard.

He also showed concerns over the loss-making SOEs includingáPIA, Pakistan Steel Mills, Railways,áDISCOSáandácircular debt of electricity and gas companies.á

He said that without solving these problems, the recovery of the economy was a difficult task. He said thatáhis party has made plans in its manifesto to addressáall these problemsábesides envisaging task forces to bring reforms in all sectorsáof the economy. He said that he had always cooperated with the business community and would continue to do soáin future as well. Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that all political parties should agree on a charter of economy to steer the country out of the current crisis and added that Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar could play his role in that regard.

He said that seats should be reserved for the business community in the parliament so that the interests of the business class and investors could be better protected in the legislative process, which would improve our economy. He hoped that the political parties would include this issue in their manifesto, which would ensure better promotion to the business interests of Pakistan. Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that timely financial decisions were very important for the business community as delay in them disturbed business plans. He called for immediate reforms in loss-making SOEs. Engineer Muhammad Azharul Isalam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that the construction industry had an important role in the economic revival of the country, but this industry was facing multiple problems due to lack of attention from the government.

Zafar Bakhtavari, former President ICCI said that the government spent about Rs 1000 billion annually on loss-making SOEs, which increased the government’s deficit. He urged the government to hand over loss-making SOEs to a few big business groups on the condition that if they clear all the debt of Pakistan in ten years, then these SOEs would be transferred to them.