Business community urges caretaker govt to steer economy, industry out of crisis

LAHORE (NNI): The caretaker government desperately needs to reduce cost of doing business for ailing industry of the country in order to steer the country of the ongoing economic crisis.

“The past mistakes have already dragged the country into the grave economic crisis so the current government should avoid repeating such mistakes at the cost of national economy,” said a business leader.

Vice President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Pakistan and former president Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Mian Anjum Nisar was talking to the media after inaugurating the 8th Color & Chem Expo at the International Expo Centre.

The two-day 8th Color & Chem Expo kicked off at the Lahore International Expo Center. The exhibition was inaugurated by former President FPCCI Mian Anjum Nisar along with local and foreign guests. PIAF Chairman Faheem ur Rehman Sehgal was also present.

After the inauguration, the organizer of the exhibition, Rashidul Haque took the chief guest and other dignitaries to the stalls and briefed them about display of products.

Pakistan chapter of American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists was also launched during the exhibition, with Abdul Rahim Chaghtai appointed as its president.

Talking to the media, Anjum Nisar said that the economic crisis in Pakistan is due to the past mistakes and that we should learn from the past mistakes and move forward. He said that Pakistan should follow other countries in economic development.

To a question, he said that he hoped that the new government won’t repeat the mistakes. He said opportunities have to be created to develop local industries and national economy.

He said that the new government needs to reduce the cost of doing business. Pakistan needs new industrial units. Trade among SAARC countries is not satisfactory, he said, adding like other regional trading blocs in the world we need to promote regional trade.

To a query that if Pakistan should import raw material from India and enhance mutual trade, Nisar, who is representing SAARC in Pakistan, avoided answering the question while citing political issue.

He, however, put his weight behind enhancing regional trade among the SAARC members.

The former FPCCI president said import of raw materials and interest rates will have to brought down, adding m in the absence of subsidies, revitalizing the local industry is a big challenge.

Nisar said that the interest rate in Pakistan is 22 percent, while the interest rate in China is barely 3.5 percent, in Bangladesh 6 percent and in India 6.5 percent.

In response to a question, he said that I don’t think that the interest rates of the State Bank of Pakistan will decrease, rather there are reports of an increase. Due to the increase in the interest rates, the Pakistani industry cannot compete with the rest of the world.

Anjum Nisar further said that in the last two years, Pakistan’s exports have plunged from $31.5 billion to $27.5 billion.

Director Event & Conference International Rashidul Haq told the media that more than 200 companies from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Germany, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom are participating in the two-day expo.

He said that Pakistani companies have set up their stalls for joint ventures.

The participation of foreign companies in the national exhibition is a ray of hope in the current economic crisis, he added.

President Pakistan Chapter of American Association of Textile, Chemical and Colorist, Abdul Rahim Chaghtai said that the Pakistan chapter of AATCC had been opened for the promotion of local textile industry.

The main objective of the expo is to create an atmosphere of transfer of modern technology and joint ventures between local and foreign companies, he added.