Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and the Chakwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) on Thursday urged the government to announce some relief measures for the business community in the federal budget for the financial year 2021-22.

They said that the businesses had suffered huge losses due to the restrictions to curb the spread of the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic, adding that relief measures in the upcoming budget would help revive the business activities and improve the economy.

This demand was made during a joint meeting of ICCI and CCCI when a delegation of CCCI visited ICCI led by President Haji Noor Sultan. Zafar Bakhtawari, Secretary-General of UBG, and Khalid Chaudhry, former Senior Vice President ICCI, were also present at the occasion, said a press release.

Addressing the delegation, Fatma Azim, Acting President ICCI, said that the government has announced to open the restaurants and tourist resorts from May 24, which was a laudable decision. However, she said that as more and more people were now getting vaccination and coronavirus cases were also showing a reducing trend. Therefore, she urged the government to gradually remove restrictions on other businesses and extend business timings up to 10 pm. She assured that ICCI would fully cooperate with Chakwal CCI to resolve the business community’s key issues.

Haji Noor Sultan, President, Chakwal CCI, said that coronavirus restrictions have badly hit businesses in Chakwal, due to which many businesses are suffering a great deal. Therefore, it was high time that the government to announce some concessions for the business sector in the next budget.

He proposed reducing high tax and interest rates, allowing businesses to pay taxes, loans, rents, and utility bills in easy installments, and providing low-cost credit facilities to the SME sector.

Both sides of the chambers urged the government to cooperate with the private sector to establish a new industrial estate in the region as it was direly needed to promote industrialization and create jobs for youth.

They also exchanged views on areas of collaboration to make joint efforts for promoting the cause of the business community and resolving their key issues.