F.P. Report
LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) on Saturday urged the government to give maximum incentives to overseas Pakistanis playing fundamental role in economic uplift of the country through their remittances.
LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid, Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid and Vice President Zeshan Khalil stated here that remittances were a major part of Pakistan’s economy.
Overseas Pakistanis, they added, sent home remittances worth US$6.44 billion during the first four months of current financial year, showing a surge of 2.27 per cent against US$6.30 billion during corresponding period last year. During the month of October this year, the Overseas Pakistanis’ inflows surged by 27.87 per cent to US$1.65 billion when compared with September 2017 and mounted by 5.99 per cent as against October last year, they said and added that Pakistanis living and working in Saudi Arabia contributed the most with remittances worth US$461.07 million during October 2017.
LCCI office-bearers said that the foreign remittances could easily reach US$40-50 billion in the next few years if the government announced incentives on the investment made by expatriate Pakistanis.
They said that government should encourage the expats to invest in the sectors like energy, agriculture, telecommunication and information technology.
They urged the government to get removed all bureaucratic hurdles that were coming in the way of smooth inflow of foreign remittances to Pakistan, asserting that a large number of overseas Pakistanis were keen to invest in Pakistan but red-tapism was keeping them away. They said that government should discourage the Hawala system as annually billions dollars were being sent through this illegal channel.
