ICCI – Page 10 – PPI News Agency

January 25, 2023

ICCI for fostering women entrepreneurs to accelerate economic growth

Islamabad, January 25, 2023 (PPI-OT):Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that women are almost half of the total population and government should make conducive policies to enhance their role in the economic activities that would pave way for their empowerment and accelerate the economic growth of the country. He said this while talking to a delegation of women entrepreneurs during their visit to ICCI. Beenish Iftikhar Qadri Founder President Hyderabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rizwana Asif President Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samina Fazil Founder President, Naima Ansari former President IWCCI and others were in the delegation.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that women have reserve seats in the parliament and provincial assemblies, which is encouraging. However, he said that there is a great need to focus on fostering women entrepreneurship so that they could play a more effective role in the development of the economy. He said that ICCI is taking many initiatives for women entrepreneurs and it would continue to work in collaboration with women chambers of commerce and industry for their better economic empowerment. He said that ICCI would give awards to the enterprising women at the International Women’s Day to recognize their contribution to the development of the country.

Beenish Iftikhar Qadri, Founder President, Hyderabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that women start-ups have to face great problems in easy access to finance and emphasized that the government should address this issue to facilitate the growth of more women enterprises. She said that close cooperation between ICCI and Hyderabad Women CCI would help in facilitating women in business development.

Rizwana Asif, President, Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the government should help in organizing exhibitions of women products in foreign markets that would provide them international exposure and contribute towards exports promotion. She said that the government should set up separate and specific women markets in the country that would encourage more women to start businesses in them with confidence.

Samina Fazil, Founder President, Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that IWCCI would organize a women expo in March this year to provide them a good platform for display of their products. She appreciated ICCI for providing its auditorium to IWCCI for organizing various functions for women and said that ICCI cooperation with IWCCI would facilitate women in business development.

For more information, contact:
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI)
Chamber House, Aiwan-e-Sanat-o-Tijarat Road,
Mauve Area, G-8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-2250526, 2253145, 8432676
Fax: +92-51-2252950
Email: icci@brain.net.pk, info@icci.com.pk
Website: www.icci.com.pk

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January 24, 2023

ICCI slams hike in policy interest rate to 17 percent

Islamabad, January 24, 2023 (PPI-OT):Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that due to the current economic crisis and high prices of electricity, gas and petroleum products, the business community is already facing great difficulties as the cost of doing business has increased manifold. In these unfavourable business conditions, the State Bank of Pakistan has further increased the interest rate to 17%, which will prove disastrous for business and investment activities besides further increasing inflation for the common man. He said that in order to revive the economy, Pakistan needs a boost in economic activities, but further increase in interest rates would make bank credit almost unaffordable for the private sector leading to further contraction in business activities.

Ahsan Bakhtawari said that hike in interest rate would also increase the budget deficit and foreign debt of Pakistan as according to a conservative estimate, one percent increase in the interest rate surges the foreign debt by 170 billion rupees. He said that interest rate in China is 3.65%, Bangladesh and Vietnam 6%and India 6.25%, but the 17% interest rate in Pakistan is higher in the region which would make our exports more uncompetitive in the international market.

He said the developed world including USA and Europe has kept the interest rate less than 5%, but in Pakistan, it has been increased to 17%, which would put the private sector at great disadvantage. He said that the business community of the entire country has always been demanding of the government to keep the interest rate in the single digit level in order to provide cheap credit facility for promotion of business and industrial activities and attract FDI. He stressed that the State Bank of Pakistan should withdraw the recent hike in interest rate and consider further reducing it to save the businesses and the economy from further troubles.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI, said that no foreign investor will invest in Pakistan in an environment of such high interest rate. He said that the industry has to take credit from banks to acquire machinery, plant and other equipment, but further hike in the interest rate would hamper the growth of industrial activities and reduce exports. He demanded that the government should withdraw the hike in interest rate to save the industry and economy from further damages.

Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI, said that the builders and developers have to finance many construction projects through banks and a hike in interest rate would hit the construction industry. He urged that the government should bring down the policy interest rate to single digit, which will pave the way for the better growth of business and economic activities and help revive the economy.

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January 20, 2023

ICCI calls for sale of subsidized flour through markets to facilitate people

Islamabad, January 20, 2023 (PPI-OT):Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that flour is the staple food of the people, but due to the wheat and flour crisis, the prices of flour have increased manifold in Islamabad like the whole country due to which the common man is facing great problems.

He said that the strategy of providing subsidized flour from specific points has not delivered the desired results as many people have to go without buying flour despite standing in long queues. He stressed that the subsidized flour should be provided to the people through shops in markets to ease the troubles of people. He said this while talking to Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon during a meeting with him along with a delegation including the representatives of Flour Mills.

ICCI Senior Vice President Faad Waheed, Vice President Engineer Muhammad Azharul Islam Zafar, representatives of flour mills including Sheikh Tariq Sadiq, Abdul Rahman Khan, Chaudhry Mukhtar Ahmad, Dr. Muhammad Usman, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Ameer Hamza, Khalid Chaudhry, Saifur Rahman Khan and others were in the delegation.

Ahsan Bakhtawari said that the government should make all possible efforts to stabilize the prices of flour. He said that the flour mills of Islamabad are facing difficulties in procuring wheat from Punjab because sometimes their quota is reduced which not only makes the flour expensive but also affects the business of the flour mills.

ICCI Senior Vice President Faad Waheed emphasized that instead of Punjab, the government should supply wheat to the flour mills of Islamabad through Passco to save any flour crisis in the federal capital and keep the prices stable. ICCI Vice President Engineer Muhammad Azharul Islam Zafar said that supply of required quantity of wheat to the flour mills is an important responsibility of the government and stressed that the government should evolve a system in consultation with the flour mills to ensure them regular supply of what in order to avoid any flour crisis in future.

Addressing the delegation, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon said that the flour crisis has been overcome in Islamabad due to the better efforts of the administration. He said that in order to improve the supply of flour to the people, 50% of the quota is being given to the shops, while 50% will be provided through specific points, while the ban on the supply of flour would be lifted soon after the improvement of the wheat supply system. He assured that efforts will be made to supply wheat to flour mills in Islamabad through Passco so that they do not face any shortage of wheat.

Sheikh Tariq Sadiq, Abdul Rahman Khan, Ch. Mukhtar Ahmed, Dr. Muhammad Usman, Ch. Muhammad Ali, Ameer Hamza, Khalid Chaudhry, Sai fur Rehman Khan and others also spoke at the occasion and gave useful proposals to overcome the flour crisis in the city.

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January 20, 2023

Impossible to stabilize rupee in presence of a broken economy

Islamabad, January 20, 2023 (PPI-OT):Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Friday said it is impossible to stabilize the rupee in the presence of a broken economy. Oil price freeze by the former government and efforts to stabilize the rupee and bring down the value of the dollar by the incumbent government has damaged the economy and annoyed the IMF, he said.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that even after the failure of the experiment to bring down the value of dollar artificially, the same policy is being followed which is surprising. How the country’s condition can change when there is no change in the important economic policies, he said, adding that IMF is being annoyed which can jeopardise the disbursement of approved loans and grants by other institutions that Pakistan cannot afford.

The business leader noted that the focus of policymakers is on reducing the current account deficit by holding back imports but they are forgetting that exports also require imports. The economy cannot improve unless the exports grow otherwise the government will have to repay the loans through fresh borrowing, he added.

He said that the former rulers damaged the economy by freezing the price of fuel for the sake of popularity and now the current rulers are busy trying to destroy the country’s economy by freezing the price of the dollar while the people are suffering the consequences of both policies. Many politicians are neither willing to give importance to the country’s interest nor to the economy, but focusing on their ego which is damaging the country, he observed.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt
Consul General Ghana
Former President ICCI
Former Patron ICST
Tel: +92-333-5132199, +92-51-2822571

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January 19, 2023

ICCI demands simplification of regulations for ease of doing business

Islamabad, January 19, 2023 (PPI-OT):Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the prevailing complicated business regulations are a barrier to promote business and investment activities in Pakistan and stressed that the Board of Investment should speed up its process of regulations reforms to promote ease of doing business in the country. He said this while talking to a delegation of Board of Investment (BoI) that visited ICCI led by Zulfiqar Ali, Director General (Reforms) and briefed the business community about the Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative to facilitate the business community.

ICCI President said that the new environmental laws are creating more problems for the private sector as their compliance is not possible, especially for old businesses and industries and stressed that BoI should work in consultation with stakeholders to reform and simplify them. Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that BoI should take a focal person from every chamber of commerce and associations for its Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI) to bring concrete reforms in the business regulations and a timeline should be set up for this project.

Zulfiqar Ali, Director General (Reforms) and Adnan Munir Director (Regulatory Modernization) BoI gave a detailed presentation on PRMI to the business community. The said that BoI is establishing a Pakistan Business Portal to provide one stop shop facility to businesses for licensing, registration and no-objection certificates through an online system linked to all relevant government departments. This project is likely to be completed by 2027. They said that BoI has received over 230 proposals for reforms in regulations out of which 115 reforms have been completed while more are process.

They said that under PRMI activities, mapping of all business regulations is being done to analyze and eliminate unnecessary regulations and simplify and automate remaining regulations in order to facilitate the business community. Ameer Hamza, Maqsood Tabish, Muhammad Shabbir, Muhammad Naeem Executive Members ICCI, Khalid Chaudhry and Muhammad Naveed Malik former Senior Vice Presidents ICCI also gave many useful proposals for making regulations more business friendly.

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January 18, 2023

ICCI calls for focusing on real estate sector to revive the economy

Islamabad, January 18, 2023 (PPI-OT):Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has called upon the government to focus on the real estate sector for reviving the economy as this sector has great potential to bring the country out of the current economic turmoil and put it on the path of sustainable growth. He said that the business of around 70 industries is connected with the construction sector and its better growth boosts of the business of all allied industries that stimulates the economic growth of the country. He said this while addressing as chief guest at a function organized by the Top City Islamabad to give complete possession of its Block G and E and partial possession of Block F and I to the members. Top City has already handed over the possession of its Blocks A, B, C and D to the members.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that due to high taxes and other multiple factors, the prices of construction material including cement, steel and other items have increased manifold. He said that this situation has stagnated the business activities in the real estate and construction sector due to which unemployment is on the rise. He said that imposition of high taxes on real estate sector is also affecting its business activities and urged that the government should rationalize taxes on this sector, reconsider tax on deemed income on immovable property and improve the business environment for the real estate sector to enable it to grow and contribute more to the economic development of the country.

ICCI President said that the overseas Pakistanis are interested in investing in the real estate sector and the government should offer them good incentives that would bring billions of dollars of investment to the country. He said that the government can take the country’s economy from recession to sustainable development by focusing on the real estate and construction sector.

Brig. (Retd) Sikandar, Chief Operating Officer of Top City-1 briefed the participants about the project. He said that a sewerage treatment plant of 2.5 million gallons capacity is being constructed in the Top City-1 and a lake is being constructed to store 10 million gallons of rainwater. He said that a golf course, zoo, premier club on 100 kanal area, mosques, schools and other facilities will be provided in the housing project.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan former President ICCI, Sardar Tahir Mehmood President and Ch. Zahid Rafique Secretary General Islamabad Estate Agents and others also spoke at the occasion and stressed that the government should create a conducive ecosystem for the real estate and construction sector.

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January 17, 2023

ICCI holds reception to pay tribute to martyred and injured police constables

Islamabad, January 17, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a reception to pay tribute to the martyred and injured police constables of I-10 suicide bomb blast. DIG Operations Sohail Zafar Chhata was the Chief Guest while SSP Operations Jameel Zafar and other police officers were also present on the occasion. The business community gave a standing ovation to the courage and bravery of the injured police constable Rashid. ICCI President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtavari also presented a check of five lakh rupees to the DIG Operations for the family of Head Constable Adeel Hussain who was martyred in the suicide blast.

Speaking on this occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry paid rich tribute to all the policemen on duty including Head Constable Shaheed Adeel Hussain and injured Constable Rashid, who thwarted the suicide blast in I-10, Islamabad and saved the city from bigger catastrophe. He said that the entire nation, including the business community, is proud of such brave police constables. He said that ICCI will provide free medicines to the injured police personnel of I-10 suicide blast with the support of its members. He also briefed the DIG Operations about the key issues of the business community related to the police. He suggested that cards should be issued to the employees working on shops and Police Conciliation Committees should be restored in which the Chamber should also be given representation.

Operations Sohail Zafar Chatta said in his address that the police is working on a comprehensive and effective strategy to prevent street crime and other crimes including theft and dacoity in the city. He thanked ICCI for holding a reception in honour of the injured Police Constable Rashid and presenting a check of five lakhs rupees for the family of martyred Head Constable Adeel Hussain. He said that every possible effort will be made to resolve the highlighted issues of the business community. He announced that the process of issuing cards to the employees working at the shops will be finalized in consultation with ICCI and Market Associations.

He said that the police are working around the clock to protect the citizens and its performance will be further improved in cooperation with the business community. ICCI Senior Vice President Faad Waheed also paid tribute to the services of martyred Head Constable Adeel Hussain and injured Police Constable Rashid and others and informed the DIG Operations about the police related issues related to 1-9 and I-10 sectors.

Shahzad Shabbir Abbasi President of F-6 Supermarket, Asad Aziz, President of F-7 Jinnah Super, Ahmed Khan President of F-10- Markaz and Chairman Tahir Abbasi, Raja Javed Iqbal, President of G-9 Markaz, Zahir Abbasi, President of E-11 Markaz, Zahid Qureshi Secretary General of I-8 Markaz, Ameer Hamza from Sabzi Mandi I-11/4, , former SVP ICCI Khalid Chaudhry, former Vice President ICCI Saifur Rahman Khan and others also informed the DIG Operations about the issues of their respective markets and stressed the need for their solution.

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