F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: The various and traders and industrial associations, especially the paper market and Shah Alam Market, Young Traders Association, Beden Road and other markets, delegation visited the PIAF office to show their solidarity with the PIAF in the upcoming Lahore Chambers elections.
The delegation from Paper Market Ganpat Road was led by APMA former chairman Khamis Saeed Butt while the delegation from Young Traders Association of Shah Alam Market was led by Shehzad Aslam and the delegation from Baden Road was led by Tahir Hafeez.
On this occasion, the PIAF Chairman Fahimur Rehman Saigol, Pattern-in-chief PIAF and Vice President of SAARC Chamber Mian Anjum Nisar, Senior Vice Chairman PIAF Nasrullah Mughal, Former Chairman PIAF Muhammad Ali Mian, Mian Abuzar Shad, Senior Vice President Lahore Chamber Zafar Mahmood Chaudhary and others welcomed the all delegations.
Addressing the delegations, Mian Anjum Nisar and PIAF Chairman Fahimur Rehman Saigol said that PIAF is the largest representative party of the business community in the city and in the upcoming Lahore Chamber’s elections, it would beat all expectations and achieve exemplary success.
Faheemur Rehman Saigol observed that in view of achieving economic growth through consistency in policies, the government will have to take solid measures to strengthen the trade and industry, especially the SMEs, saving the livelihood of millions of workers associated with the small businesses.
He observed that the successive governments should pursue the same set of objectives and try to maintain consistent policies for a long-term of at least 10 years. The government should focus on the industrial sector in order to take the economy forward. Neglecting the industrial sector at this juncture will further aggravate the balance of payments situation, he added.
Pointing out the problems being faced by the trade and industrial sectors, he stressed the need for providing a level-playing field to the business community. The government should also reduce the cost of doing business by ensuring supply of energy at concessional tariff especially for SMEs sector, he added.
Fahimur Rahman said that Piaf’s manifesto is to solve the problems of the business community on a priority basis.
The business community is facing problems like FBR harassment, closure of LCs, import problems, unannounced load shedding, parking, overbilling, departmental actions and expensive electricity and gas in the markets.
The government should solve the above problems on a priority basis in consultation with the traders. Piaf’s mission is to create a stable economy and prosperous business community.
He stated that the new government will have to take proactive measures to encounter external and domestic challenges, besides stabilising the economy. The PIAF Chairman said that the upcoming government should be committed to transforming the economy of the country, as the process of transforming the economy is already underway in the country, acknowledging that structural reforms in every sector takes time.
Faheem Saigol mentioned that the new elected government will have to take joint action to combat currency smuggling and narrow the difference in dollar rates between official and open markets. It is the fact that the interim government has undertaken various initiatives for the betterment of the country. The trade deficit narrowed by 3.6 percent to $1.3 billion in December 2023 compared to $1.9 billion in the same period of 2022, demonstrating positive progress. Additionally, he expressed optimism that the government’s efforts would lead to an expansion in export potential and the export market.
