Govt to provide all facilities, consult business community in making economic policies

Governor Punjab Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar has said that the government would provide all possible facilities to the business community besides consulting it in formulating economic policies so that the gap between exports
and imports could be reduced.

Addressing “Business Excellence Award” ceremony organized by Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (FCCI) here on Saturday night, he said that national economy was facing tough time in year 2013 and he despite severe opposition from India and Bangladesh got the GSP+ facility for Pakistan.

The exporters at that time had promised that they would play an active role for tripling Pakistani exports
but practically no improvement has been witnessed in that regard.

When asked about the poor performance, the exporters said that they were not provided facilities which were necessary for increasing the country’s exports, he added.

Chaudhary Sarwar said that he had never seen any country where gas and electricity were being provided to its provinces where 100 percent difference in the tariff. The previous government was providing electricity to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) at Rs 6 per unit whereas its rate in Punjab was Rs 12 per unit.

Similarly, huge difference was also witnessed in gas rates, he said and added that present government however had promised to provide gas in Punjab equal to its rates in Sindh and KP. For that purpose a subsidy of Rs 50
billion would be provided so that industrial sector in this region could be saved from collapsing.

He appreciated the role of traders and businessmen who were working for betterment of the economy amid tough challenges from smuggling and terrorism.
He appealed to the general public “to be Pakistani and buy Pakistani products.”

Governor Punjab assured the business community that they would be consulted in formulating economic policies and Pakistani ambassadors as well as commercial attachés would be provided targets besides utilizing all available resources for considerable increase in country’s exports.
Chaudhary Sarwar said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Finance Minister Asad Umar were striving
hard to drag out national economy from crisis.

Pakistan’s image could not be improved without rule of law, he said and added the government would fully empower judiciary and administration with the hope that they would play their dynamic role for redressing
of peoples’ problems, he added.

He said that provision of potable water is a major issue as 1.1 million annual mortalities are due to contaminated water whereas 70 percent patients are hospitalized due to use of polluted water.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had assigned him the task of providing potable water and he would try his best to achieve that target with the help of philanthropists and by using national resources.

Earlier, President FCCI Shabbir Hussain Chawla addressed the function and presented a Rs 5 million cheque for the dams fund.

Later, Governor Punjab also distributed shields among traders and businessmen who showed excellent performance in various fields for betterment and improvement of the country’s economy.