FAISALABAD, Jan 12 (APP):Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) acting President Dr Sajjad Arshad said that collaborative efforts by all quarters including the bureaucracy, politicians, business community and judiciary were imperative to rehabilitate the economy on a strong footing and sustained basis.
He was addressing a meeting of the officers of 34th Senior Management Course (SMC) of the National Institute of Management (NIM) Peshawar who visited the FCCI here. He said that 40 percent of SMEs had been closed due to unprecedented inflation, high energy costs, delay in payment of refund claims, political uncertainty and inconsistent policies. “Therefore, all quarters concerned must pay heed to this burning issue on an urgent basis for greater national interest,” he added.
About the role and functioning of the FCCI, he said that the chamber remained in touch with the government to resolve the issues faced by the business community. “The FCCI played a key role in budget formulation”, he said and added that it was for the first time that the FCCI President was picked as chairman of the tax anomaly committee instead of someone from the FPCCI.
He said that ministries concerned were always ready to discuss issues but they have their own limitations due to the direct intervention of the IMF. He said that exports had declined from $18-19bn to $14bn. “This slide will continue if immediate prudent and remedial measures were not taken”, he said and added that energy costs had further fuelled inflation.
He said that electricity in Bangladesh was available at 8, in Vietnam its cost was 6 while in Pakistan it was provided at 14 cent per unit. He said that gas prices had also witnessed a hefty increase and in the situation Pakistan could not compete with their regional competitors.
Quoting his visit to China, he said that the country was producing 50% electricity from solar and wind whereas the remaining 50% from hydel sources. He said that the government should provide subsidized loans at 6% to the SME sector to generate solar energy. “We have unlimited resources of coal in Thar but we failed to fully exploit its potential,” he added.
About the negative impact of political instability on the economy, he said that exports, FDI and remittances were also decreasing along with the stalemate of technology transfer. “Our diplomatic force should work proactively to provide conducive climate to the exporters to overcome these issues,” he demanded, adding, “We must introduce long-term policies without any interruption to stabilize the economy.”
About GSP plus status, he said, “We failed to fully exploit its potential and our exporters should start exporting non-traditional items. This facility will continue up to 2027 and we must get maximum benefit from it”, he said and added, “We are exporting rice of $2.4bn while we have the potential to increase it up to $10bn.”
Dr Sajjad Arshad said that Pakistan was predominantly an agrarian economy and we must introduce value added agri and dairy products from our basic field produce.
He said that the Punjab government had established the first ever Business Facilitation Centre in Lahore while another one was nearing completion in Faisalabad. “However, I could not identify its benefits for the business community as it would be too early to comment on it”, he added.
The Acting FCCI President said that cotton production had declined in Punjab and the Chief Minister had assured to fix the minimum cotton price at Rs. 8,000 but it was being sold at Rs. 6,000 while 17% GST has also been added to cotton seed.
He further said that maize production had increased three times but its rates have declined causing major loss to the farming community. “This situation may result in distrust between the government and the farming community”, he said and added that farmers would not sow these crops next season.
He said that 40% of children had stunted growth due to the acute shortage of protein. “The government had banned import of soybean without considering its ill impacts”, he said and added that it resulted in increasing the price of chicken which is the cheapest source of protein in Pakistan. He said that the government should encourage local production of soybeans before taking such drastic steps.
He also expressed concern over the human quality index in Pakistan only due to the inappropriate policies and strategies. He highlighted the role of the FCCI in the social sector and said that all major industrial units were paying salaries to their workers according to the minimum wage board award while additional facilities were also being provided.
He said that the SME sector was badly affected by inflation and was unable to pay salaries to it workers at the fixed rates. About the CPEC, Dr Sajjad Arshad said that China had recently reduced duties on 313 items which would help Pakistan export these products to China and enhance the overall quantum of Pakistani exports.
He said that Pakistani exporters could not introduce their own brands as it was capital intensive and long-term investment. He said that due to this reason Pakistan could neither introduce its brands nor develop any breed.
Responding to a question, he said that the FCCI was not getting any funding or grant from the government. “We are generating our own funds from the membership, renewal and issuance of visa recommendation letters etc”, he said and added that the FCCI had approximately 9,000 members who represent 118 sectors and bisectors of economy.
Earlier, Mr. Ziaullah Shams, Directing Staff NIM Peshawar, thanked the FCCI for hosting the fruitful meeting as it would help the government offices understand the economic pulse of the FCCI.
Later, Dr Sajjad Arshad and Mr. Ziaullah Shams exchanged shields while Mr. Shams also recorded his impressions in the FCCI visitors’ book.
