PESHAWAR - Federal Minister for Commerce and Textile Muhammad Pervaiz Malik has said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has suffered huge economic losses due to country’s ongoing war against terrorism and the province deserves to be provided fair opportunities for overcoming the damage.
He expressed these views while talking to the business community of KP during a visit to Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Wednesday. SCCI President Zahidullah Shinwari, executive members and former presidents of the chamber, and prominent businessmen were present on the occasion.
Talking to businessmen, federal minister for commerce held out assurance of extending full cooperation to KP businessmen in the formulation of policies aimed at providing economic gains to the trading community of the province. He said the federal government believes that promotion of trade and commercial activities will help in bringing the economic boost in the country and for this purpose the government is taking several steps. “Revival of peace due to gains made in the war against terrorism and a drastic reduction in loadshedding of electricity and gas are helping in the promotion of business activities in the country,” he added. The federal minister said the government has succeeded in overcoming economic decline, adding that exports of the country have shown an improvement of 14 to 15 percent due to prudent policies.
The economic growth of the country has reached to figure of 5.2 which is a good sign and reflects the better performance of government, he continued. He also assured SCCI members that instructions would be issued to TDAP to give due representation to businessmen of KP in business delegations of the country.
Similarly, he continued, KP would also be given proper representation in heading different companies formed by Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the promotion of commercial opportunities in the country.
Responding to a point raised by president of SCCIi, federal minister said free trade agreements with different countries would be reviewed and strict decisions will be taken in this regard in future.
Zahid Shinwari had raised the point that giving more concessions under free trade agreements to different countries is causing de-industrialisation in the country due to slump in business and because of this practice imports are also increasing.
In reply to a complaint about the demand of quarantine by Plant Protection department ensuing in delay to the transportation of export goods to Afghanistan, federal minister said two officers each have been sent on an emergency basis to Torkham and Chaman border posts for early clearance of goods loaded vehicles.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Zahidullah Shinwari urged the federal minister to take a review over the imposition of a regulatory duty on import of different items.
The imposition of regulatory duty has highly affected business with Afghanistan which has reduced to $500 million from $2.5 billion.
He said the duty must be imposed on non-essential and luxury items while essential items including fresh and dry fruits and other items should be exempted.
President SCCI also suggested federal government to opt for trade diplomacy with Afghanistan by sending a delegation of businessmen to Afghanistan to talk with officials for restoration of business with the neighbouring country. He said apart from textiles, surgical instruments, rice and others, the government should find new items for giving them priority for increasing country’s export.
In this regard, he suggested for exploring the potential of Hunting and Sports arms through the promotion of which billions of dollars of foreign exchange can be earned.