Karachi: Speakers at the meeting of Shura Hamdard Karachi chapter on Monday urged the government to increase the budget of education and health and give incentives to manufacturing sector of the economy to reduce the bill of imports. The meeting held on the theme: ‘National Budget 2018 -19, Foreign Loans and Self-Reliance’, was presided over by Justice (retd) Haziqul Khairi. Sadia Rashid, President, Hamdard Foundation Pakistan, was also present at the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, Zafar Iqbal, Small and Medium Enterprises Alliance (SAMEA) president said that small and medium enterprises were the backbone of the country’s economy, as they employed around 80 percent of the labor force and contributed about 40 percent to the GDP. Special incentives should be announced for the sector’s development, he added. “SMEs should be exempted from the collateral condition of Rs3 million and the range of loans should be extended up to Rs.10 million; annual income of Rs.1.2 million should be exempted from taxes,” he demanded, adding further that the rate of sales tax should be fixed at 5 per cent and withholding tax should be charged on cash withdrawal of Rs. 100,000. “Discreet powers of tax officials be abolished and austerity measures on national level should be taken forthwith,” he suggested. Usama Qureshi, the managing director and CEO of Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan, said that local industry should be promoted so that the items currently being imported could be produced locally. “This will reduce a heavy burden on the national exchequer. The manufacturers who agree to set up units for production of such items should be encouraged and supported by the government to make Pakistan a manufacturing nation,” he added. “New energy sources should be explored and developed locally to curb the import bill which is a huge burden on the national economy. Right people should be deployed on right places in government departments to boost the level of governance,” Qureshi concluded. Justice (retd) Haziqul Khairi was of the view that it was the repeated demand of the Hamdard Shura that tax on agricultural income should be imposed in the coming national budget. Justice (retd) Pervez Zia said that the agriculture sector was in a miserable circumstance. There was a crisis of water, seeds, and organic fertiliser whose timely availability can reduce the burden on farmers. Maj. General (retd) Sikandar Hayat, highlighting the importance of steelmaking, said that steelmaking was not a commercial business, but a strategic business. “No doubt, Pakistan Steel has performed poorly over the years but that was an outcome of corruption and mismanagement. It used to a good unit of 1.2 million ton capacity of steel making which could have risen to 3 million ton. But it became the victim of wrong policies as our policy makers were deaf and blind and they could not take right decision on right time to save the steel mill.” Engineer Anwarul Haq Siddiqui was of the opinion that scientific management was the only answer to the difficulties and economic illness faced by the country. “In a country of 80 million voters, there were only 1.2 million tax payers,” he lamented. Commodore (retd) Sadeed Anwar Malik said that socio-political stability was a must for strengthening the economy, adding that strikes, riots, and dharnas played a negative role and stopped the wheel of economy. Brigadier (retd) Dr. Syed Iqbal Ahmed said that Pakistan’s economy became weak because of PIA, Steel Mill and other national entities that got sick being overstaffed and corrupted due to political interference, though these were the institutions that were emulated by other countries. This situation could be changed only by taking strict measures, he maintained. Prof. Muhammad Rafi was of the view that without changing the whole political system nothing could be changed as, he thought, under this system the country could not get required progress and development. Ibn Hasan Rizvi stressed on professional and technical education, innovation and research to become an exporting nation, which was a guarantee for progress and prosperity, like China, South Korea, Singapore, and other Asian countries. Reema Siddiqui, a representative of the younger generation, while expressing her views, said that the public should discourage those who spread cynicism as it created disappointment and affected the morale of the younger generation. “We have the talent and the capabilities to standup and move ahead as the new generation of Pakistan has proved many times, they have made 200 plus IT companies and got them registered too. The government needs to focus on health and education in the upcoming national budget,” she asserted. Brig (Rtd) Riazul Haq, Usman Damohi, Anwar Aziz Jakartawalla, Ms. Shamim Kazmi and Prof. Dr. Akhlaq Ahmed also spoke. Published in Daily Times, March 13th 2018.