ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
Saleh Muhammad Khan Swati, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources assured that the government would try to cooperate with ICCI for the establishment of a new industrial estate in the Islamabad region as it would boost industrialization & investment, create more jobs and improve the regional exports. He said this while interacting with the business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI).
Saleh Muhammad Khan Swati agreed with the ICCI proposal for tax at single point and low tax rates that would help in broadening the tax base and improving the tax revenue. He also briefed the business community about the initiatives of the Ministry of Water Resources for water conservation and making Pakistan a water-efficient nation.
Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry highlighted the importance of a new industrial estate in the federal capital and briefed him about the efforts of ICCI to realize this project. He said that the government should cooperate in materialization of this important project that would create multiple benefits for the economy. He said that high inflation was putting great burden on the common man and squeezing the purchasing power of consumers leading to further slowdown in the business activities. He urged that the government should take urgent measures to control inflation. He said that SBP should also rationalize policy interest rate as high interest rate has made credit cost more expensive due to which expanding existing businesses and making new investment has become more difficult.
Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh Senior Vice President and Muhammad Faheem Khan Vice President ICCI said that taxes at multiple stages were discouraging business and investment activities and urged that the government should introduce a single tax regime to improve tax revenue and facilitate the growth of business activities.
Ch. Muhammad Ali, Azhar ul Islam, Javed Iqbal, Hafiz Bilal Munir, Omais Khattak and others also spoke at the occasion and shared useful ideas to address the key issues of the economy.