Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has congratulated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on emerging as a winner in the general elections 2018 and called upon the party to announce a short-term plan for quick revival of the economy in case it assumed power in the centre.

ICCI President Sheikh Amir Waheed, ICCI Senior Vice President M Naveed Malik and ICCI Vice President Nisar Mirza said that the economy of Pakistan was currently confronted with many challenges as the rupee has witnessed record depreciation, trade deficit has swelled over to $37 billion, exports were way behind the target, forex reserves have dwindled significantly and Pakistan instead of becoming a manufacturing hub, has turned into a trading country. They said all these challenges demanded that the new government should accord top priority to form a new strategy in consultation with private sector to turn around the dwindling economy.

They said that Pakistan was facing serious financial constraints and the new government should take solid measures to improve the revenue generation of the country. For this purpose, the focus should be on tax reforms and creating a conducive environment for growth of industrial and manufacturing activities. They said that PTI has always been raising voice for good governance and the time had come that it should translate its slogan into reality by taking strong measures for establishing good governance in all sectors in the country.

ICCI office bearers said that many public sector enterprises including Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways and power companies were running into loss due to which the country was spending Rs 500 billion to Rs 600 billion annually to keep such entities afloat. They said that PTI has always assured that if it came into power, it would turn these entities into profitable enterprises. They emphasised that the party should now work to take practical steps for turning around these loss making enterprises.

They also said that youth had a lot of expectations from PTI as it has always spoken for youth development. They stressed that after assuming power, the party should take measures to engage youth in entrepreneurial activities by providing them with easy loans and create jobs for them. They further maintained that PTI should also focus on economic empowerment of women as women were half of “our population and without bringing them into the mainstream of the economy, it was not possible for the country to achieve sustainable economic growth”.

They assured that the business community would fully support the new government in its endeavours aimed at promoting business and economic activities in the country.

Published in Daily Times, July 27^th 2018.