ISLAMABAD, Mar 30 (APP):Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) Sheikh Amir Waheed has called upon the government to finalize Federal Budget 2018-19 in consultation with private sector to make it inclusive financial bill.
He said this while addressing a session organized by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ICCI to hold discussion on improving the parliamentary hearing process for formulating inclusive economic and other policies.
He claimed major chambers of commerce & industry of the country send budget proposals every year to the government, but most of them were dropped.
He said the role of national assembly’s standing committees on commerce & textile, finance revenue & economic affairs, industry and production, energy and others was vital to make inclusive
laws and policies and stressed that representative of business community should be called to the meetings of these standing committees so that they could present the voice of private sector in the lawmaking process.
Speaking on the occasion, Imtiaz Gul, Executive Director, Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said that the foundational flaws and lacunas in the parliamentary hearing processes discouraged dialogue between the parliamentarians and the private sector representatives.
Resultantly the inclusive policy making suffered as the private sector’s feedback for the
potential economic reforms was not conveyed to policymakers which was contrary to the idea of inclusive democratic process.
He said CRSS has completed the preliminary research and received comprehensive
feedback from the several legal experts to understand the concept of public hearing, the existing
systems of public hearing in Pakistan, international best practices and the way forward.

LAHORE, Mar 30 (APP):Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha on Friday disclosed that broadening of tax base without increasing tax rate by Punjab government had resulted in around 30 percent increase in the tax collection of the province during last four years.
Talking to members of Lahore Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) led by their President Nasir Jamal, here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the minister said that revenue growth of Punjab from its own resources was ten percent higher than the revenue growth at federal and other three provinces.
She added that Punjab revenues were increased despite reducing the tax rate on 22 services, citing that Punjab Revenue Authority inherited only 12 services which were being taxed and the number had now increased up to 62 services.
Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said that Punjab government used modern technology to bring numerous tax evading sectors under tax net, and the taxes were collected without any harassment to the taxpayers.
She revealed that in year 2013 when Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) was established, taxes collected from telecommunication sector were 78 percent of all the service tax collected in Punjab. Today, she cited, the services tax revenues had increased above Rs 80 billion compared with Rs 12-13 billion in 2013 but the share of telecom sector in revenue collection had declined to only 22 percent. The broadening of the tax base, she said, could be judged by the fact that the number of tax registered persons in Punjab was only 23,500 in 2013 that had now increased to 48,000. She said provincial services taxes were expected to cross Rs 100 billion by the end of this fiscal and the government was also aiming to increase the number of service taxpayer to 100,000 by next fiscal.
Provincial Finance Minister said this transformation in tax revenue was achieved with the coordination of Punjab Tax Reforms Unity, the only of its kind in the provinces. As a result of gradual but prudent reforms, she mentioned, tax collection had increased not only in PRA but also in Excise Department and Board of Revenue.
Giving some examples of reduced taxation, she said, rates of property tax had been reduced but its total collection had increased. Similarly, she added, the construction sector was charged 16 percent and the services tax on government construction was 5 percent and now the tax for both the sectors was 5 percent.
She said that the potential for tax collection was much higher in the province however, “We are deliberately moving with caution and targeting sector which can produce results with less efforts.” The difficult sectors like doctors and other professional services would also be touched when the revenue authority was fully prepared with technology. She said problem with taxing doctors was that it could increase the healthcare cost, but the government was working on different models to bring doctors under tax net without increasing burden on the patients.
She said Punjab had successfully complimented the amount it received under National Finance Award with high provincial revenue generation, and this had enabled the provincial government to more than triple the development budget from Rs 149 billion to Rs 680 billion. She said huge development on power and infrastructure projects had transformed the Punjab economy that had been growing above the national average in recent years. She pointed out that huge amounts had been spent on health, education and clean water projects, besides laying an integrated network of roads in the rural areas.
Dr Ayesha Ghaus said that the next Punjab budget would be presented in the Provincial Assembly in the first week of May. She said the thrust from now onwards would be more on boosting agriculture and small and medium enterprises.
She said the provincial government had managed to reduce the cost of inputs for the farmers by asking the federal government to reduce duties on pesticides and fertilizer. Where it was found that there was further need for reduction, Punjab government was providing subsidies, she said and added that provincial government was also picking up GST on electric tube-wells to reduce cost of the farmers and more than 350,000 farmers had been provided concessional credit as the markup would be borne by the provincial government.
She said SMEs would get training package, access to finance on same pattern as provided to farmers, credit guarantee insurance, linkages with larger industries and academia, development of industrial clusters and establishing incubators in the university. Regarding health and education, she warned that there would be more current expenditure as the projects that had been completed would have to be operated.

KARACHI, Mar 30 (APP): Head of Strategic Council of Foreign Relations and former Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Kamal Kharrazi on Friday said the people of Iran and of Pakistan have deep-rooted religious and cultural bonds.
With the improvement in diplomatic and political ties they will come closer and bilateral trade and economic cooperation will increase in the benefit of both the sides.
He was speaking at a roundtable discussion on bilateral, regional and international issues with members of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) here.
Besides a delegation of Iranian scholars and the Iranian Consul General in Karachi, it was participated by senior media persons, writers and intellectual.
He noted that there were ups and downs in the relations at the government level, but through on-going dialogue on different issues including trade and investment, these two neighbourly Muslim nations would come closer to each other and would emerge as strong supporters on many fronts.
‘Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is under negotiations, if successful, there will come big change,’ he remarked adding that Iranians and Pakistanis had great respect and love for each other. These two nations could not be separated.
There was a big economic potential on the both sides. Bilateral trade and economic cooperation could grow a lot, he said.
To a question, he said that the bilateral trade volume was low for certain reasons. Absence of banking channel between the two countries was one of the main hindrances. Pakistani banks were hesitant to start their operations in Iran due to foreign political pressure, he maintained.
Referring to the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project, he said that Iran had laid the pipeline up to few kilometers back to its border with Pakistan at the cost of billions of dollars. Iran is waiting for Pakistan’s action.
He recalled that Iran and Pakistan had been extending support and assistance to each other in difficult times.
Dr. Kamal said that he had visited Pakistan’s main cities forty years ago (in December 1978) to share the message of Iran’s revolutionary leader Imam Khumeni.
Iran’s former minister for foreign affairs strongly rejected that his country had made interventions in other countries and said Iran worked only for Muslims unity and quoted Imam Khumeni’s fatwa, ‘ Any one who tries to divide Muslims into Shia and Sunni is kafir.’
He cited example of Iran’s support to Palestinians who are Sunnis and to Syria where majority of the population was Muslims. Iran also supported Iraqi government against Daish.
However, he made it clear that Iran would not hesitate to support any country who opposed Israel.
The main focus of his country’s foreign policy was to oppose and resist Israil, the United States and European Union’s interventions, he said.
He said despite economic pressure due to the USA sanctions, the people of Iran were bold enough to defend their national independence and sovereignty.
‘Iranian people know, how to save their identity and national interests,’ he said adding that Iran was ready to have an alternatve option.
Although Iran had remained under sanctions for almost forty years, yet her economy was sound, rather progressing. Iran was doing well in science and technology and many other sectors, he said.
‘$ 105 billion goods, we produce every year,’ he informed.
To a narration that Iran was getting very close to India who had also increased its role in expansion of Chabahar sea-port, Dr. Kamal Kharrazi said that Iran had as good relations with India as with Pakistan and other countries especially in the region. ‘We had invited Pakistan, China and other counties to invest in Chabahar. It was open venue for foreign investment. There was Western corridor and that Gwader could be interlinked to Chahbahar port as complementary to each other,’ he said.
Iran had always been supporting Kashmir struggle. Iran had never complained that Pakistan had good relations with the USA and Saudi Arabia, he said.
When his attention was drawn to Afghanistan situation, he said that peaceful Afghanistan was very important for the entire region including Iran and Pakistan; even for Central Asian states.
Earlier, PIIA’s Chairperson Dr. Masooma Hassan briefed the guest about the institute history and research on different issues of national and international importance.

LAHORE, Mar 30 (APP):European Union’s extension in the GSP-Plus status (Generalized System of Preferences) to Pakistan has helped increase exports of value-added textile goods by up to 90 per cent, leading to exports growth by 13 per cent during last eight months.
Adressing the launching ceremony of International Apparel Federation (IAF) membership in Pakistan held here at regional office of Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) on Friday, Federal Commerce Secretary Younus Dhaga said the PM package in the shape of Duty Drawback on Taxes (DDT) for the exporters had also helped growth of textile exports.
He added that government was working on five-year Strategic Trade Framework, according which branding, gender equality and promotion of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) to achieve exports target.
Appreciating PRGMEA’s role, he said the government had identified textile as a key priority area and was striving to set the right policies and incentives that encouraged the private sector investment in value-addition. He assured the members of PRGMEA of resolving all their issues at the earliest.
Earlier in his welcome address, PRGMEA Senior Vice Chairman Sheikh Luqman Amin appreciated the extension in the GSP-Plus, saying, “We have succeeded in reaching this landmark simply due to serious efforts of Ministry of Commerce and Textile. Renewal of GSP-Plus status is a golden opportunity for us to enhance our exports.”
Sheikh Luqman mentioned that despite assurance by authorities concerned to clear all pending claims, more and more refund claims were piling up. He stressed the need for formulating a clear policy in this regard. He also called for ease of business to jack up country’s industry to a much competitive level.
On this occasion, the IAF Regional President Ijaz Khokhar stressed the need for enhancing the product lines of Pakistani exports and for that purpose, some incentives should also be announced to motivate exporters.
“Currently, the garment sector has a limited product line for export market due to non-availability of the latest fabric locally. Foreign buyers demanding new garments based on G3, G4 and Technical fabric material. We need to offer more diversified products to take benefit from the GSP Plus,” he argued.
He said that Pakistan direly needed to establish an Aggressive Marketing Plan for garment export to get maximum benefits of GSP-Plus status.
The IAF Regional President added that regional taskforce needed to be established to determine issues being confronted by the industry and then to suggest measures to ensure its viability and competitiveness in the international market.