PESHAWAR - Businessman Panel has condemned the shifting of the Regional Office of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the appointment of a coordinator to run its affairs as the violation of rules of the apex trade body.
The president of the FPCCI has ordered the shifting of the Regional Office of FPCCI from the University Road to the office of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) situated on the GT Road with immediate effect. The FPCCI has also appointed a coordinator for running of the office despite presence of a vice president from the province.
According to Riaz Khattak, a former vice president of FPCCI and leader of the BMP, the Regional Office was not liked by local leadership of the United Business Group (UBG), which was established due to hectic effort of their leadership.
He expressed the fear that the shifting of the Regional Office to Chamber House, Peshawar will make it subservient to SCCI and it will be rendered redundant.
The business community attributing these steps of the FPCCI president to the UBG senior leader, SM Munir, who is a Canadian citizen and has business concern in the same country.
FPCCI President Ghazanfar Bilour said that during that the export of the country during the three -year stint of the SM Munir as chairman, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) had declined from $25 billion to $19 billion.
He said that the former chairman TDAP has run the affairs of the authority on the basis of his personal dislikes and dislikes. Furthermore, he also alleged that the responsibilities of the Federation House, Karachi have been handed over to Senior Vice President (SVP), Mazhar Nasir and the president has been limited to only Islamabad office.
He said that Mazhar Nasir is the representative of Halal Food Association against whom a case is under proceeding at Islamabad High Court (IHC) while the election of the FPCCI president, Ghazanfar Bilour is also been challenged by his rival candidate Haji Ghulam Ali.