Friday last was a great day for me as I got an opportunity to explain my point of view to group of parliamentarians. The credit for this unusual interaction goes to my parliamentarian mentor National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Chairman Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh but I am equally thankful to MNAs Saeed Ahmad Khan Manais, Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Khan, Sheikh Fayazud Din, Dr Nafeesa Shah, Syed Mustafa Mehmood, Syed Naveed Qamar and last but not the least MNA Asad Umer for they gave me a patient hearing and agreed to my suggestions and proposals. I gave them a roadmap to economic vibrancy.

What I told them I want to share with you all as it is a duty of every citizen of this country to play his role for the economic wellbeing of this country.  At the very outset I sought their help and support for the withdrawal of new regime of regulatory duties that in my opinion are bound to break hell on smooth running businesses besides promoting smuggling and strengthening parallel economy. To me it is sheer injustice to subject raw materials which are not being produced in Pakistan of regulatory duty as it would oust Pakistan from the global export market. When the cost of manufacturing would be on higher side which already when it is compared, the competitiveness would get a blow. It would have been better that if a special care is taken of the fast declining exports instead of imposing extra duties on imports.

Certainly these duties were imposed to increase revenue collection but let me share with that the revenue collection has gone down considerably after this widely unpopular decision. Trust me that the situation would further aggravate if corrective measures are not taken immediately. I would request the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Pasha, who spent a good time in Lahore as provincial finance secretary, to give a second look to this scenario that has created a very unpleasant economic situation besides giving a bad name to the government.

I also urged the policy makers to ensure release of huge refunds that are stuck up for a long time now and a cut on cost of doing business to create level-playing field for exporting sector. They appreciated my suggestions and promised to evolve a well thought out strategy at the earliest. I suggested the honourable parliamentarians to take stakeholders onboard to get out of current account deficit and for doing this the government would have to make a committee comprising stakeholders of public and private sectors.

I also gave them awareness about the parallel economy that is flourishing only because of withholding tax on banking instruments that should be withdrawn to strengthen the banking system in the country. I told them that if heads are not joined today, the coming years would not be very good for the economy.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Zubair Tufail was equally upset with trade imbalance. He wanted a cut in the rate of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) and its implementation from July 1, 2017. He was of the view that retrospective implementation of the GIDC was also hitting the exports. He said that on 12 October they had a detailed meeting with the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who had agreed with their suggestions. Here I want to make a humble request to the federation president that he should invite chambers presidents in such high-level meetings as the chambers presidents would strengthen his voice.

My great friend Mian Anjum Nisar, former LCCI president, was more vocal than anybody else as he was of the view that it was very unfortunate that wrong government policies were turning Pakistani businesses inefficient. He said that if Bangladesh is exporting merchandise worth of $36 billion and Pakistan’s exports are at $19 billion, we need to review our policies. He said that it is a matter of shame for us that we are a resourceful country while Bangladesh has little resources. He said that the recently imposed regulatory duties are a deep-rooted conspiracy against both the government and the private sector. The sooner these duties are done away with, the better it would be.

He said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could be an opportunity or a challenge. He called for level-playing field to Pakistani businesses that are ready to work on CPEC projects. He said that a little more attention could turn it into a challenge from a game changer for this part of the world.

Former federal secretary Saeed Ahmad, who fortunately was there, spoke at length about Delivery Deficit. He said that the gap between policy and its implementation has been hitting the economy hard. He said that a well-tailored monitoring mechanism is need of the hour to take control of the ongoing sate of economic affairs. He said that Pakistan’s share in world trade is fast going down and arrest it we would be needing a set of professional recommendations.

Noted businessman Arif Habib had a very optimistic approach. He said that Pakistan is a land of opportunities. It has a great potential. He said that we need to give some attention to expatriate Pakistanis who are repatriating $19 billion through banking channels and $8-9 billion through unofficial channels, He said that it if they are patronised, they definitely would be putting their money in new ventures in Pakistan. And in this way we would not only be bringing down the graph of unemployment but foreign investment would also start pouring in. Arif also spoke about four other areas including construction, agriculture, industry and information technology. He said that instead of imposition of new taxes we should facilitate these sectors that have the ability to help government overcome economic challenges.

A number of other friends including former presidents of Sialkot and Islamabad also gave quite doable proposals to the parliamentarians. The young man from Islamabad chamber wants a complete ban on installation of new oil-based power projects in the country to save much needed foreign exchange while the SCCI former president wanted a set of new economic measures.

The writer is president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and has vast experience & knowledge on economic issues.