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 prime 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 prime 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 said 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 prime minister to boost business activity, particularly increase of exports. The delegation lauded the prime minister’s policy of maintaining regular interaction with the traders and his policy of taking the stakeholders on board. The prime 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 prime minister said 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 attended the meeting.
During the meeting, which discussed the taxation matters, duties and measures to boost exports, the members of the delegation appreciated the prime minister for effectively raising the voice of oppressed Kashmir Muslims at the United Nations. The prime 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 said 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 prime 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 told the delegation that the government had merged the tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the business activities would be promoted.
