LAHORE: Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) here Saturday reiterated its demand for regulatory duty (RD) withdrawal on import of necessary items including industrial raw material.
PIAF Chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Senior Vice Chairman Tanveer Ahmed Sufi and Vice Chairman Khawaja Shahzeb Akram called for an immediate consultation over the issue of regulatory duty to ensure business-friendly decisions.
They were of the view that unnecessary imports were widening the trade deficit, asserting that an extensive consultation between public and private sector was a must to bring clarity to the issue of regulatory duty.
They said that the decision would increase under-invoicing and promote smuggling; therefore the government must promote export by resolving fundamental issue of high cost of doing business particularly in Punjab.
The PIAF chairman said the declining exports and widening trade deficit posed a serious threat to economic growth and required to be tackled on priority basis. The government, he said, should also find a lasting solution to the problem of high prices of foodstuffs, as the high import duty also causes high inflation.
He said that business-friendly policies must be adopted as other neighboring countries of the region were giving to their respective trade and industrial sectors.
