Islamabad : A delegation of United Business Group (UBG) led by its President Zubair Tufail and Secretary General Zafar Bakhtawari called on the Federal Secretary Commerce Muhammad Sualeh Ahmed Farooqui and discussed with him the matters to improve the country’s trade and exports. Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Jamal ud Din Vice President FPCCI, Asfand Yar Mandokhel, Qurban Ali, Atif Ikram Sheikh, Presidential candidate of UBG for FPCCI and others were in the delegation.
Addressing the delegation, Federal Secretary Commerce Muhammad Sualeh Ahmed Farooqui said that the business community is the backbone of the economy and the government would take all possible measures to address their key issues. He said that the businessmen would be given representation in foreign delegations to explore new markets for promoting Pakistan’s trade and exports. He said that trade and exports policies would be finalized in consultation with the business community to make them result-oriented. He stressed for transparent and fair elections of FPCCI to ensure true representation of the business community in the apex trade body of the country. He lauded the proposals of the delegation to curb smuggling and improve the country’s exports and assured that their suggestions would be given due consideration for implementation.
Speaking on the occasion, President United Business Group Zubair Tufail said that the initiatives of the government to curb smuggling are bearing fruits and stressed that this move should be continued on a sustained basis. He stressed that the Ministry of Commerce should develop a comprehensive mechanism to give licenses only to genuine trade bodies that would be more effective in serving the cause of the business community. He also presented useful proposals to promote trade with Iran, Afghanistan and other regional countries that would benefit Pakistan’s economy.
Zafar Bakhtawari, Secretary General UBG Pakistan said that the government’s crackdown against the smuggling, power theft and illegal currency trading has produced good results for the economy and stressed that the government in consultation with the stakeholders should evolve a comprehensive mechanism and policy to arrest the re-emergence of these issues.
Ahsan Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the government should focus on trade liberalization, improve the export competitiveness of exports and reduce the cost of doing business that would help in fast revival of the economy.
Asfand Yar Mandokhel said that many fake trade bodies manage to get licenses with the aim to cast fake votes in the elections of the FPCCI and stressed that the government should take strong measures to cancel licenses of all fake trade bodies. He demanded that the FIA should also investigate and take action against those who are involved in fake exports as this practice hurts the image of the country.
Atif Ikram Sheikh, Presidential candidate of UBG for FPCCI proposed that a new procedure should be developed for the import of palm oil in consultation with the mills owners.