Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Bishkek on June 14, 2019. (Photo by Alexey DRU
ZHININ / SPUTNIK / AFP)
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced setting up a committee based on the members of business community to amicably address their concerns with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The p
rime minister was chairing a meeting with a delegation of business leaders belonging to various trade and industry chambers including incumbent and former presidents, at the PM’s Office.
The p
rime minister said a strategy had been formulated to resolve the matters of business community as the country’s future was linked with strong economy.
He said a close and solid partnership between the government and business community was important for national development, adding that “their success was mutual”.
He sai
d the government wanted to provide maximum facilitate to the business community to promote profitable trade activity in the country.
The meeting was attended by PM’s Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razaq Dawood, Chairman Board of Investment Zubair Gilani and senior officials.
The presidents of Chambers of Commerce and Industry from Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala,
Sialkot, Islamabad and Faisalabad gave suggestions to the p
rime minister to boost business activity, particularly increase of exports. The delegation laude
d the p
rime minister’s policy of maintaining regular interaction with the traders and his policy of taking the stakeholders on board. The p
rime minister was also apprised about the problems faced by the business community.
The delegates also paid tribute to PM Imran Khan for presenting the case of Kashmir at the United Nations in an effective manner.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan said that the national development was linked to creating ‘ease of doing business’, which was the responsibility of the government.
In a meeting with a delegation of renowned industrialists and business figures of the country, the p
rime minister sai
d the industrialists had been making remarkable contribution to the national economy.
The delegation comprised Mian Mansha, Bashir Ali Muhammad, Khalil Sattar, Khalid Mehmood, Shahid Abdullah, Arif Habib, Musaddiq Zulqarnain, Usman Khalid Waheed, Sikandar Mustafa, Khawar Anwar Khawaja, Ali Habib and Javed Afridi.
Federal ministers Hamad Azhar, Syed Ali Zaidi, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar, advisers Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Abdul Razak Dawood and Dr Ishrat Hussain, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and senior officers also attende
d the meeting.
During the meeting, which discusse
d the taxation matters, duties and measures to boost exports, the members of the delegation appreciate
d the p
rime minister for effectively raising the voice of oppressed Kashmir Muslims at the United Nations. The p
rime minister said a series of his meetings with the people from business sector was going on, and on the basis of previous consultations the government had taken various policy steps. He sai
d the government was not supposed to do business, rather to create ‘ease of doing business’ as it was the only way to bring about the national development. The p
rime minister said that corruption had put the country on the verge of collapse; however, he reiterated his resolve of purging the country of the scourge. He tol
d the delegation that the government had merge
d the tribal districts wit
h Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the business activities would be promoted.