KARACHI
Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) and Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) have extended heartfelt congratulations to Shehbaz Sharif on taking oath as 23rd prime minister of Pakistan.
In their separate statements issued on Tuesday, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala, Vice Chairman BMG Tahir Khaliq, Haroon Farooki, Anjum Nisar and Jawed Bilwani, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, Senior Vice President Abdul Rehman Naqi and Vice President Qazi Zahid Hussain hoped that Prime Minister Sharif would now prioritise some of the urgent economic issues being faced by the country and pay special attention to the problems being suffered by the business & industrial community of Karachi since long.
They also advised the prime minister to come up with an effective mechanism which must ensure that every single decision or policy which directly or indirectly affects trade and industry, must be devised in consultation with the business and industrial community.
They were of the opinion that the federal government has to pay attention towards some of the most pressing issues of Karachi particularly improving the infrastructure of Karachi and other serious issues like gas, electricity and water crises being faced by the business & industrial community of this city which continues to contribute a mammoth share of more than 65 percent revenue to the national exchequer, more than 95 percent to the provincial kitty and 54 percent in terms of exports despite all odds. In order to ensure sustainable economic prosperity, the federal government has to revisit all the policies so that the sense of deprivation felt by Karachiites and the city’s business community may be negated.
Meanwhile, Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver felicitated Sharif on becoming the prime minister. Thaver wished him luck, saying that the Union expected good governance, no tolerance against corruption and good administration from him.
He said that Shahbaz Sharif is known for his good administration, adding that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector expects top priority for ease of doing business and cost of production.
While appreciating ex-prime minister Imran Khan for his concerns for the SMEs and making the SME policy and various finance schemes for the underprivileged sector, he lamented that Imran Khan could not deliver much due to his weak team. The sector had high hopes in him and expected far better results, he said, adding that the country could have progressed much better if Imran Khan had followed the road map given by the majority sector.
Separately, Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Vice President Haris Ateeq has hoped that the economic issues would be well under control under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
While talking to a group of businessmen here Tuesday, Haris Ateeq said that the country was currently facing acute economic challenges like mounting inflation, trade deficit, soaring public debt and high devaluation. He said that it was a good omen that the economic indicators like stock market and rupee value got positive as soon as Shehbaz Sharif assumed the office of Prime Minister.
Haris Ateeq said that Shehbaz Sharif had served matchless services as Chief MinisterPunjab. It is hoped that the new Prime Minister would continue his untiring efforts for the development of the country, he added.
