LAHORE-President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Kashif Anwar has urged the Chief of Army Staff to play his role and convince the government and opposition parties to sit together for the sake of economy.
He said that this is high time that the COAS should convince both the opposition and the government to sign Charter of Economy that is need of the hour in the larger interest of the country and its people. The LCCI president was talking to the Station Commander Lahore, Pakistan Navy Sajid Hussain at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Executive Committee Members were also present on the occasion.
Kashif Anwar said that today the country needs a charter of economy more than ever. He said that 54 chambers of commerce and industry of the country have already declared that if all the political parties do not sign charter of economy before elections, the business community, which is also an economic party, is going to boycott the general elections. He said that the measures at war footing are direly needed as the factories are being closed and the workers are losing their jobs.
Kashif Anwar said that the present economic situation calls for an amnesty to energize the foreign exchange reserves so that the undeclared assets of Pakistanis can be declared and come into the economic circle. He said that there is a lot of money in vaults and invested in land which should be taken out through amnesty. He said that amnesty should be granted across the board and unconditionally as it can bring out around $10 billion into the circulation.
He further said that right now, a very large number of containers are stuck at the ports. The business community is facing difficulties due to the shortage of raw materials, machinery and other essential materials. It is demand of the business community to declare the ports as bond or shift the containers to the bond so that the demurrage and detention charges could be avoided.
