Faisalabad (Parliament Times): The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has asked the government to formulate long-term and consistent policies for swift revival of industry and considerable improvement in exports, by taking concrete measures and devising effective plan to reduce the cost of doing business, which has now become the major hurdle in growth of economy, especially after heavy floods in the country.
Talking to a delegation of different industrial sectors here on Monday, APBF President Syed Maaz Mahmood said that Pakistan’s exports, after witnessing some improvement in previous year, have once again, started showing stagnancy and unless attention is paid to factors, hampering industrial and export growth, the country might not achieve the desired results.
“We want clarity and continuity in policies at least for one year till 2023, as there is no clarity in government plans and strategy because there are still hurdles to open LCs, besides several restrictions are continuing on imports of even industrial raw materials despite the approval of IMF loan first tranche, which is not understandable,” he pointed out.
He said that the high cost of doing business has proved to be dangerous for Pakistan’s industry, discouraging investment both in capacity and capability, calling for lessening the burden of heavy taxes on power sector.
APBF Chairman Ibrahim Qureshi, on this occasion, observed that with a view to help grow the businesses the government will have to take solid measuresto strengthen the industry, especially the SMEs, to save the livelihood of millions of workers associated with the small industries.
Ibrahim Qureshi emphasized the need for supporting SMEs to bring prosperity to the country. Moreover he said that there should be a holiday for all taxes and levies for five years for the newly-registered companies, especially SMEs in flood-hit areas. There should also be exemption from audit for the newly registered SMEs in this period.
Syed Maaz Mahmood said with a view to save the economy from the impacts of the slowdown due to the unprecedented floods, the government should announce special incentives for a cash-strapped small and medium industry, which represents more than 90 percent of around 5 million business enterprises in Pakistan, contributing 40 percent to the GDP, employing more than 80 percent of non-agricultural workforce, and generating 25 percent of export earnings.
He condemned the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority for shifting power distribution companies’ inefficiencies burden to the consumers by jacking up the tariff under Fuel Charges Adjustment almost every month. He said that constant hike in power tariff on the plea of fuel adjustment has pushed the electricity prices higher and added to the already soaring cost of trade and industry.
He said that industries need low cost energy to bring down their cost of production, keeping their goods competitive in the international market. The APBF President said Pakistan exports cannot compete with China, Bangladesh and India where power tariffs were 7-9 cents, as the country’s exports may witness a major setback in present days due to high cost of electricity, which has become a major stumbling block in industrial development and boosting exports. He said that fuel and electricity are regarded as the lifeline of any economy and play a pivotal role in socio-economic development of a country.
He observed that the government, in present circumstances, would have to reduce the price of electricity along with the cut in the prices of petroleum products to bring down the cost of doing business and to promote industrial activities.
He said that business activities were already in decline and in this situation the government should take serious steps to cut the cost of doing business, as constant hikes in oil rates would further enhance the cost of production, making transport more expensive.
