Altaf Hamid Rao,
MIRPUR (AJK): The Vice President of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ch. Javed Iqbal here on Thursday expressed dismay over the alleged media trial, through an ongoing commercial on the national electronic media, against Mirpur-based foam-manufacturing units, on the part of, what he called, the so called All Pakistan Foam Manufacturers Forum (Non-exempted Forum).
Talking to reporters here Thursday evening, Ch. Javed Iqbal, also former President of AJK Chamber of Commerce & Industry, termed the media commercial campaign as totally lie, baseless and mischievous propaganda to mislead the people including the concerned federal government functionaries. He further described the allegations being aired through the commercial against the local (Mirpur) foam industry as concocted and totally against the realities.
The VP FPCCI continued that there was no truth in the allegation that 80 percent of the total of raw material and foam landing in Pakistan, was being used for foam manufacturing in industrial estates in Mirpur AJK without paying any tax.
Javed Iqbal explained that the government of Pakistan use to receive all due stipulated taxes including custom duty and sales tax over the raw material prior to the clearance for release from the concerned shipment port of landing.
He underlined that the sales tax exemption over the AJK-based foam industry for a period of five years from the date of its emergence, is enforced only on output / finished goods and that too become the volume a minor amount, he added.
The FPCCI Vice President further said that prevailing input taxes, imposed on the product across Pakistan, are also levied on the existing industries located in Mirpur, Azad Jammu Kashmir, who use to regular pay to the State Income Tax and Inland Revenue Department of AJK.
Ch. Javed Iqbal said that the allegation of resorting to loss of billions of rupees in form of taxes to the national exchequer of Pakistan, as shown in the above commercial, is totally baseless and bundle of lie. He observed that primarily the main objective of the above commercial was to sabotage the ongoing speedy industrial development of AJK which was at the path of boom with the passage of time following the 5-year tax-exemption given by the government of AJK to the new arrivals in the industrial sector in Azad Jammu Kashmir. It is, he maintained, also aimed at to mislead the people and the government through dissemination of the above false propaganda about the AJK-based foam manufacturing industry.
The former President of AJK Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the people of Azad Jammu Kashmir have the legitimate right to understand the objective of the alleged nefarious designs advertiser clique was aimed at to frustrate and foil the existing industries in AJK – besides to discourage and mislead the intending entrepreneur through showing the baseless bleak picture of the AJK-based industry forcing them to avert from making investment in the rising industrial sector of AJK.
Ch. Javed Iqbal said “people and the business community of AJK strongly condemns the above media drive against AJK-based Mirpur foam industry with earnest appeal to the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir to encourage and extend more due facilities for the establishment of more industries by the intending investors – with prime focus to encourage exceptional increase in levies for the national exchequer besides for opening of job opportunities for the locals for bringing about socio economic progress and prosperity in Azad Jammu & Kashmir in true perspective through a bottle-necks-free regime”, he concluded.
