LAHORE  -  President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry Almas Hyder has urged the business community to take corrective measures to face the challenging circumstances. Coming year will be critical for the country and would set the future directions.

He was addressing the delegation of Hall Road Traders Association, led by Baber Mahmood, at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI senior vice president Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, vice president Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal, former senior vice president Khawaja Khawar Rasheed and vice president Zeshan Khalil also spoke on the occasion.

Almas Hyder said that challenging economic scenario compelled the government to approach IMF as no other option was available. He said that IMF is not a friend to the borrowers therefore, Pakistan would have to accept tough conditions.

The LCCI president called for maintaining a balance between income and expenditures to pull the country out of economic mire and added that we have to boost our exports at all costs. He said that Pakistan has a lot to export. He said that Pakistan has a meager share in international Halal trade of $1.25 trillion. He said that Halal food sector of Pakistan can earn a huge foreign exchange for the country. He assured the delegation of his full support to deal with business challenges.

Head of the delegation Babar Mahmood said that heavy duties are discouraging the legal imports of mobile phones and other goods. He said that traders are ready to pay duties but government should take stakeholders on board. Traders wanted an extension on implementation of IMEI registration with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) till December end, which they hoped the government would consider favourably so that the traders don’t face loss on the inventory available in their shops.