A 10-year road map is needed for economic stability, Chamber of Commerce

Islamabad: Fad Waheed, the senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that to deal with the economic challenges facing the country, a comprehensive roadmap of at least five to ten years should be introduced and a compact economy should be made with the consensus of all political parties. .

Talking to Express, he said that the federal government should ensure the consultation of stakeholders in the budgeting of the next financial year 2024-25 and should present a people-friendly and business-friendly budget keeping in mind the ground realities.

He further said that the budget should focus on adding new people to the tax net instead of increasing the burden on the people already included in the tax net. The government’s job is not to do business, but to provide a favorable environment for business, for which it is necessary to introduce long-term policies.

Fad Waheed, Senior Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that every year the government asks for budget suggestions from Chambers of Commerce and Industries and business organizations on the occasion of the budget, but unfortunately these suggestions are not given importance and neither in the budget. is added.

He said that this time also the government has asked for budget proposals for which the work is going on and soon the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry will send its budget proposals to the government.

The senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that budgeting in consultation with the stakeholders, keeping the ground realities in front, can be beneficial. Lessons should be learned from past experiences and all political parties should at least make economic decisions. Be united on matters.

In response to a question, he said that due to the measures taken during the caretaker government, the economy has been managed and the economic situation has improved. The next thing was that the caretaker government also continued to implement them but during this period foreign direct investment has been negligible now that after the elections a coalition government has been formed again in which the two major parties of the country Pakistan. People’s Party and PML-N are involved and this government seems to be serious in solving the problems faced by the country, which has created a hope in the business class as well.

He said that it is expected that foreign direct investment will also be promoted now, but at the same time, the government should also pay attention to local investors because local investors also play a key role in the development and promotion of exports. are paying

In response to a question, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Sheikh Fad Waheed said that the government should pay attention to regional trade, especially by promoting trade with neighboring countries, not only billions of dollars in foreign exchange can be saved, but additional billions can be saved. Dollars can also be earned.

He said that our neighboring country Afghanistan is 100% dependent on imports and we should focus on increasing trade with Afghanistan and expand the scope of trade through Afghanistan to the Central Asian countries, similarly trade with Iran and India. Should be promoted. Normalization of trade relations with India is needed.

He said that there is a need to find alternative means to reduce the import bill and there is a need to increase the exports, for this there is a need to find new markets as well as there is a need to promote value addition in the country.

In response to a question, he said that just as the agricultural revolution can change the destiny of the country, in the changing global context, IT can also create a revolution. If more attention is given to this sector, the exports of the IT sector can be increased by another ten billion dollars. On the other hand, the promotion of IT will also improve the governance system in the country.