IMF rep lauds govt economic policies

ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): Newly-appointed Resident Representative of IMF Maria Teresa Daban Sanchez lauded the efforts of the government for improving security situation which has given boost to economic activities and enhanced confidence of the business community. In a meeting with Minister of State for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal here on Wednesday, She also appreciated government's endeavours to increase exports that would help bring down trade deficit. During the meeting the IMF representative also discussed with the minister the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank scheduled in April.  She thanked the minister for the warm welcome and expressed the desire to work in close cooperation with the government during her term. The minister welcomed the IMF representative and wished her a successful tenure in the country.  He had exchange of views with her on the current macro- economic situation in the country and said all efforts were afoot to keep up the momentum of economic growth.

Business Summit inaugurated

KARACHI (PR): Chairman Martin Dow Group Jawed Akhai inaugurated the 2nd Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit, organised in collaboration with Nutshell Forum & the Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms, on Wednesday at a local hotel. In his inaugural address, while welcoming all the guests, Jawed Akhai quoted the BMI Research from the World Economic Forum website that claimed that Pakistan is among the 10 emerging countries and is expected to contribute the most to global growth over the next decade. The Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit is Pakistan’s most prestigious and well-attended business summit. This year the summit features 20 international speakers including distinguished professors from Ivy League Universities and global CEOs. Business delegations from China, GCC and other regional countries are amongst the 800 delegates present at the Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit 2018. The theme for this year’s summit is “Disrupting the Future” where innovators, leaders and future thinkers have come together to present their ideas.

Some of the speakers at the first day of the summit included Naeem Zamindar, minister of state & chairman Board of Investment, Ahsan Iqbal, federal minister for interior and planning, development & reforms, Mohammad Zubair, Governor of Sindh, Bruno Olierhoek, President, OICCI, and Anusha Rahman Khan, minister of state for IT & telecom.

Jawed Akhai said: “It is the need of the hour for us to come together under one platform with the international business community and aim towards growing together.” He further added that disruption, which is the theme for the summit, had also been discussed and debated at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. “Martin Dow Group also had the privilege to launch The Pakistan Pavilion for the first time at the World Economic Forum, which allowed our entrepreneurs, IT specialists, the media, financial services and philanthropists to interact with the international community which helped highlight a positive image of Pakistan. Disruption works only when we let others interact, support and engage with people of higher learning and experience.”

Martin Dow has been a host with the Pathfinder Group for the Pakistan Breakfast at the World Economic Forum in Davos for the past several years.

Traders want conducive business environment

LAHORE (Staff Reporter): The government and private sector are vital for each other and the government must develop policies conducive to business environment and address genuine issues of the business community. This was stated by the LCCI Acting President Khawaja Khawar Rashid and Vice President Zeshan Khalil while speaking at a dinner hosted by Textile Traders Association. Iftikhar Ai Malik, Farooq Iftikhar Sheikh Muhammad Asif, Abdul Basit, Awais Saeed Piracha, Ch. Aurangzeb Aslam, Sheikh Zafar Iqbal, Ch. Khadim Hussain, Rana Mahmood and Nadeem Abbas also spoke on the occasion. Kh Khawar said that business community is driving force of the economy but it cannot play its due role for economic wellbeing of the country while carrying huge burden of the problems like withholding tax on banking transactions, misuse of the discretionary powers by the tax collection machinery, high prices of utility prices and delay in refunds etc. He said that there is an urgent need to reform the taxation system by engaging all the stakeholders.

He urged the government to withdraw withholding tax on bank transactions in the larger interest of the trade and industry.

He said that this tax has forced the business community to conduct its monetary transactions in cash.

He said that withdrawal of withholding tax on bank transactions would give a big relief to the business community.

He also called to remove the double taxation system that is hampering the trade and economic activities in the country.

LCCI Vice President Zeshan Khalil said that the government would have to weed out the menace of smuggling and under-invoicing before implementing any tax avoidance measures.

He said that it was very unfortunate that instead of widening tax base and bringing the untaxed sectors into the tax net, steps are being taken to squeeze the existing tax payers.

Inviting the budget proposals from Textile Traders Association, he said that concerned departments seriously consider the LCCI trade & industry-related budget proposals.

Italian businessmen keen to explore business opportunities

ISLAMABAD (APP): Italian Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo on Wednesday said that Italian investors were being informed about the investment potential in various sectors of Pakistan's economy and they had expressed keenness to take advantage from these opportunities. The ambassador called on Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Miftah Ismail and apprised the adviser regarding various bilateral cooperation initiatives underway between the two countries. The adviser on finance appreciated the dedicated efforts of Italian envoy for promoting Pak-Italy economic cooperation. He said that the steady economic growth was creating greater economic opportunities for the investors. He said that the improved security and greater economic opportunities had led to a renewed interest of the international investors. He said all possible facilitation would be offered to potential Italian businessmen under Pakistan’s liberal investment regime.