Traders demand due share in care-taker set up

Private sector is the backbone of county's economy and considered to be an engine of economic development, therefore, they should be given representation in the Caretaker Government at Federal and provincial levels.

Zafar Bakhtawari, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) made these remarks in a statement. He said that the caretaker set-up should comprise business people and their due representation must be given to the private sector/business community.

It is necessary that people with knowledge of economy and policy making should be part of the Caretaker set-up as budget formulation exercise has begun and their representation is vital in this regard, he maintained.

Bakhtawari said that business community is the real stakeholder of this country that contributes 42 percent to total sales tax collections and pays 38 percent of total income tax. Therefore, the business community should be given chance in all provinces and federal caretaker set-up, he added.

ICCI President said that private sector has the ability to frame long term development policies for the country and could work for the national interest instead of serving individual agenda. The policy of new set-up should be broad based which could bring investment in the country, he opin- ioned.

He was of the view that our economy is facing many challenges, so there is a dire need to formulate prudent economic policies with consultation of business community. He said that the only way can get the economy to grow sustainably is through a strong private sector so the government and the private sector needs to develop strong coordination.

Bakhtawari said that business community of Pakistan has entire country representation through Chambers of Commerce, trade associations, industrialists, and socio-economic sector as well. Therefore, we strongly propose that Private Sector should be given representation in the Caretaker Government with a mandate to ensure economic sustainability to avoid economic deterioration with a firm control over the performance of Macro-Economic indicators.

He also informed that private sector has key role in all the developed economies of the world and cited the examples of USA, UK, Australia, Turkey and other developed countries, where 50-70 percent of the economic policies are being developed by private sector.

ICCI President said that the country was facing annual $5 billion loss due to energy crisis, thus, caretaker government should take steps to resolve energy crisis. Thus, it is imperative to include representatives of business community in caretaker setup for economic revival, he added.