Lahore - Vice President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Nasir Saeed has demanded all political parties to show maturity & commitment to the country and try to resolve issues through talks, as politics of agitation will push the national economy to the wall.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Saeed said that trade & economic activities were being disrupted; therefore, the business community appealed to the protestors to stay away from such politics, which created anarchy like situation.

He said the country was facing huge economic loss only because of baseless statements and irrational attitude of politicians.

He said that a week of stalled economic activity cost the country around $500 million or $2 billion per month, and a weak economy like Pakistan could not afford even one million dollar loss of exports.

Saeed said that at a time when the country was facing severe internal and external challenges, the situation was bound to affect the national interests.

The LCCI vice president said that such activities would not only tarnish the image of the country in the eyes of international community but would also hinder economic growth.

He said the leadership of all political parties should join hands for strengthening the economy instead of hatching conspiracies against the government for their vested interests.

He said that the political leaders should settle issues through talks, which is a democratic, and the just forum for this purpose instead of disturbing the business activities and public life through holding sit-ins and rallies. He said that in the past, politics of agitation has caused irreversible loss to the national economy besides tarnishing the soft image of the country. He said that in the present scenario, country cannot afford to bear more economical loss. He said that business community is the main stakeholder of the economy and it should not be treated as useless thing.

Meanwhile, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said here Saturday that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a ray of hope and all conspiracies against this mega project should be tackled with iron hands.

The LCCI President urged the government to ensure timely completion of the Corridor as it was bound to turn Pakistan into a great investment destination. He said that CPEC would start a new era of progress and prosperity in the country; therefore it should be handled with extra care.

He said that it would not be wrong to say that the economic benefits of this project were hard to estimate. China had already promised to invest more than 46 billion dollars in this connection and this project had the potential to work as a big push theory of economics.

Sheikh Arshad said that CPEC was an overall cooperation platform with a focus on long-term development of bilateral cooperation in various fields. This mega project should be completed at any cost, as it had the undoubted potential to turn Pakistan into a pivot of regional cooperation, he observed.

He viewed that if Pakistan used this opportunity wisely, the CPEC would enable it to harvest the economic benefits, which could considerably strengthen its regional power and esteem and prove the country as the priceless long-term ally for Beijing.