Islamabad: Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr Shahid Rasheed Butt, on Friday, welcomed the decision of the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb to bring erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) into the tax net. The move will increase revenue, reduce distortions in the tax system, and ensure equitable conditions for industries across the country, which is a long-standing demand by the troubled industrial sector of the settled areas. Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that many people have established industrial units producing iron, ghee, cooking oil, textiles, plastic, and other items in erstwhile FATA and PATA. They have been given tax exemptions so the local population can get cheaper goods. However, many industrialists produce more than the local demand and smuggle their production to Afghanistan and into the settled areas of Pakistan. This practice ensures good profit to the FATA and PATA industrialists but creates problems for the industries in the settled areas, as they cannot reduce their business costs to match those of the industries established in tribal areas. Our Correspondent
