In a significant move to benefit the local business community, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and Jazz, Pakistan’s leading 4G operator and top internet and broadband service provider, have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement, formalized on Saturday, aims to provide substantial discounts on Jazz’s services to KCCI members.
(more…)Category: Trade & Industry
This section covers news on trade and industry. Pakistan Revenue is committed to providing the latest updates on business trends.
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FPCCI resents electricity tariff hike, gas supply shortage
KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has resented increase in electricity tariff and supply shortage of gas to industry.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo, President FPCCI in a statement on Friday expressed concerns over electricity tariff hike and disconnection of gas for the industry.
He said that instead of reforming the energy sector, the adhoc and painful decisions are being made detriment to domestic industry.
He said that the much awaited outcome of negotiations between IPPs and government which was considered to be directed towards reduction in base tariff do not assures any decrease in the base tariff, which again is shocking outcome questionable as the private sector was of the view that the report published on IPPs which was required to be further expanded towards the eventual objectives of resulting in the reduced cost of energy for increasing the competitiveness of economy and mitigating the inflationary trapped and consumption requirement of the poor segment of the economy.
He said that the spokesman on the energy has attributed the need of tariff hike due to bad and corrupt agreements made with IPPs in the past. He said that if so, such situation requires to be corrected through invoking all the civil and criminal remedies to correct the agreements by excluding the pay or take, reducing O&M cost, converting the repatriation cost from dollar indexation to rupee and relevant recommended measures in the report.
He said that while appreciating the present government in ordering the inquiry in respect of agreement with IPPs, the outcome does not appear to be reciprocating for base tariff reduction and availability of electricity sale at reduced cost.
He further said that the announcement of Rs40 billion per year off-take of financial burden on Government is marginal even against the present announced tariff base hike wherein one rupee hike is over charging consumers of Rs 100 billion on consumption of electricity.
President FPCCI also said that such on & off increase in tariff is coming in the way of economic development, in specific loaded by the carried forward adverse effect of COVID-19.
The hike if is linked to any part of the memorandum of understanding with IMF can be fairly convinced for freezing such tariff hike when IMF itself projected low economic growth. Such duplicity cannot be justified.
On the other side the predictable outward and inward oriented trade has become hostage of keep on increasing gas prices and intending to disconnect the gas supply of captive power plants.
He said that mismanaged RLNG cargoes by the Petroleum Division are also answerable to such abrupt and non-justified late decisions. He said that during last November the spokesman on energy and petroleum had promised that increasing demand of gas in the winter season will be met through increase in RLNG imports.
It appears that this non-living promise has forced Government to take decision of disconnecting the gas for captive power of industry. The setting of the deadline for disconnection of gas from February 1, 2021and 1st March 2021 is too short time to adjust.
He said that some industry is running on captive powers with some emergency required grid loads need more time to arrange all the equipment’s and settle all the requirements of Discos which would take considerable time.
He said that even CPP’s of industry with equivalent power arrangement from Grid also requires back-up adjustments of power by the Discos which is again time consuming.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo, President FPCCI proposed that the time period provided be extended reasonably in order to shift to Grid power. He said that the penalty of bad agreements with IPPs on capacity and take or pay clauses is being shifted to industry with their self-generation through captive power plants which basically is assurance for reliability and un-interrupted supply.
Discos have yet to claim such performance to supply un-interrupted electricity without load shedding. He said that government spokesman has claimed saving of 150 MMCFD gas by disconnecting CPPs of industry, while the gas leakages in the systems are four times of this saving of 150 MMCD.
He wondered that if there is any efficiency in the management over sighting the political economy of the gas affairs.
He further suggested that even if the government reduces gas loss by one-fourth, the abrupt imposition of such decision may not have been required to adversely affect the industrial economy.
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Yarn merchants demand duty, tax incentives for cost reduction
KARACHI: Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) has demanded incentives in rates of duty and taxes in order to reduce the cost of production, according to a statement issued on Thursday.
The issues were raised at a meeting of yarn merchants with Member Inland Revenue (Operations) Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) held last week.
The office bearers of Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) demanded the Member of abolishing 3 percent value added tax on commercial importers at import stage, impose uniform Withholding tax for industrial & commercial importers, and abolish regulatory duty, additional customs duty on polyester filament yarns, and reduction of tax rate on POY.
Member Inland Revenue was informed that the 3 percent value addition sales tax at import stage is quite unreasonable on the import of raw materials because it is impossible to sell a commodity like yarn at gross profit margin of 17–18 percent. Their margin is ranging between 2 to 5 percent and this tax is un-necessary burden. It must be withdrawn or at least reduced to 1 percent.
They insist for rationalization of withholding tax regime at import stage on all kind of imports for commercial & industrial importers (1 percent for capital goods, 2 percent for raw materials and 5.5 percent on finished goods) i.e. 1 percent.
Imposition of 2.5pc regulatory duty on polyester filament yarn (5402-3300, 5402-4700), POY (5402-4600) & air covered yarn (5402-6200) is unjustified as PFY is an important raw material for weaving, knitting & home textile.
“It would justify the cascading system of polyester value chain. This is essential to provide protection to upstream & downstream participants of cascading system of polyester value chain & if implemented successfully, will result in massive employment & investment opportunities”, PYMA delegation added.
It encourages fake invoices resulting in revenue losses to government, when goods are sold to unregistered buyers. We believe this tax is counterproductive & more creative approach is required to achieve the goal of documentation.
On one hand, it deprives the payment of an un-adjustable 17 percent direct payment on sales to un-registered persons, and on other hand loss of precious revenue of the government exchequer occurs.
PYMA delegation pointed out anomaly in rate of turn over tax on yarn. Traders of yarn deal in high volume & nominal rate of profit margin. They purchase yarn from spinners & sell to weaving sector with a nominal margin of 1pc or even less.
As per SRO – 333(1)/2001 Dated. 02.05.2011, the yarn traders are subject to turn over tax at concessional rate of 0.1 percent which constitute about 10pc of their margin.
Therefore, FBR should remove the anomaly by insertion of the provision of minimum turnover tax at 0.1pc for yarn traders in the first schedule part–I, Division–IX.
On the occasion, Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, member (Inland Revenue – Operations) Federal Board of Revenue, assured the delegation that the agenda presented by PYMA would consider and would also inform the Ministry of Commerce & Ministry of Finance to include it in the upcoming budget.
FBR official also assured the delegation of his fullest cooperation with the aim of promoting business activities in the country and increasing government revenue.
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KCCI demands immediate release of income tax refunds
KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately release pending income tax refund claims of small traders, shopkeepers and the SMEs.
The claims of around Rs50,000 to Rs100,0000, whose assessment has been completed should be released on top priority, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) and Former President KCCI said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Blocking such refunds oppresses small businesses which continue to face serious cashflow problems. We have no idea how long the COVID-19 pandemic would last and it is a well-known fact that almost every household is a victim of this pandemic therefore, the government will have to provide relief as it is totally uncertain where the businesses will land up in the days to come”, he added while speaking at a meeting of Small Traders held at KCCI.
The meeting was also attended by General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, President KCCI M. Shariq Vohra, Senior Vice President KCCI M. Saqib Goodluck, Vice President KCCI Shamsul Islam Khan, Chairman of KCCI’s Special Committee for Small Traders Majeed Memon, Former Senior Vice Presidents Javed Bilwani and Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi, Former Vice President Talat Mehmood and KCCI Managing Committee Members along with representatives of several commercial markets from all over Karachi.
Chairman BMG stressed that the government will have to bring in major changes in the taxation system and it also needs to devise effective mechanism to minimize the hardships of small traders as although big businesses may survive but the small ones need support as they have no access to financing facilities and have also lost all their savings while battling with the situation triggered by the pandemic. “SMEs and shopkeepers are the worst sufferers of the COVID-19 pandemic who must not be undermined and given relief.”
He also stressed the need to resolve CNIC issue which was creating a lot of problems for the already perturbed businessmen who were compelled to run their businesses with limited timings and were strictly advised to comply with all the SOPs for containing COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in creating a troublesome situation for small traders by raising the costs and lowering the earnings.
In response to concerns expressed over the imposition of municipal tax, he said that President KCCI has already taken up the municipal tax issue and was strictly pursuing the same so that the grievances faced by small traders could be minimized. Moreover, the Karachi Chamber was also closely monitoring the relocation of displaced shopkeepers whose premises were razed during the anti-encroachment drive. “These shopkeepers must be provided adequate alternate place for business and we are seriously working on it”, he assured.
Chairman BMG said the problems confronted by small traders will always be given top priority by the leadership of Businessmen Group and sitting office bearers of the Karachi Chamber who would keep on raising a strong voice and make all out efforts to get the issues resolved.
Zubair Motiwala, while recalling his journey with Late Siraj Kassam Teli, said that the vacuum created after the sad demise of late Siraj Teli cannot be filled by anyone but he along with all Vice Chairmen BMG and General Secretary BMG would try their level best to come up to the expectations of the entire business & industrial community, particularly the small traders who play the role of backbone in the economy. “We always spoke vocally about your issues and would continue to do so in future as well with same zeal and enthusiasm. KCCI would move forward hands-in-hands and its doors will always remain open for small traders while the policies introduced by Late Siraj Teli will remain intact and any inevitable change in these policies would only take place after consultation.”
Speaking on the occasion, President KCCI M. Shariq Vohra said that the small traders were the assets of KCCI and the Chamber fully realizes their significance. KCCI’s role is to facilitate and support the business community in dealing with numerous government related matters and pave way for the progress and prosperity of small traders. “This is our job and we will remain unshakable until numerous issues are amicably resolved”, he added.
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Duty, tax above Rs1 million made mandatory through e-payment
KARACHI: The payment duty and taxes amounting above Rs1 million has been made mandatory through the electronic mode from January 20, 2021, said Wajid Ali, Director General, Reforms and Automation, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
At a meeting with members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Wajid Ali said that the online system was introduced through a procedure in 2017 in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), a statement said on Thursday.
This system is connected with the WeBOC and payment of taxes can be made by pay orders and cash to create a balance.
Such procedures are already adopted by a number of countries worldwide. The system is operated by a unique ID which is called a PSID number issued to the relevant users who are connected to approximately 16000 different branches of the relevant bank across Pakistan.
In order to further ease the payment of taxes, the system is also supported by easy paisa / OTC on a mobile phone to the users as well and the facility through this system is available with the taxpayers on the basis of 24/7.
No drastic adoption of the system was observed last year by the users and in order to enforce the online payment by the system, it is now automated in such a way that the payment of taxes beyond Rs. 1 million cannot be made through the old system of payment of taxes.
“It is, therefore, mandatory to the taxpayers that they are bound to get PSID number if the amount of taxes to be paid accedes Rs. 1 million or above,” he added.
The last date to adopt the new system by the taxpayers is January 20, 2021, as announced by the FBR so that the payment of taxes may be made more effective and transparent.
This will also ease to compile the statistical data relating to revenue collection within no time. At present now 22 percent of the collection of taxes is being carried out with the help of a new electronic system and it is not out of place to mention that positive feedback is coming in from the taxpayers who are already using the facility.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo President, FPCCI appreciated Pakistan Revenue Automation Private Limited (PRAL) for improving ease of doing business and facilitating the business industry while presiding the meeting of FPCCI Standing Committee on Customs headed by Shabbir Hassan Mansha.
He further said when it comes to business endeavors every business person has to deal with Customs, FBR, and SBP.
Most people are confused by the complexity of processes. The meeting expects the experts to disentangle the process complications.
A team of experts from Pakistan Customs and Pakistan Revenue Automation Private Limited (PRAL) joined FPCCI Head Office, Karachi the in the meeting of FPCCI Standing Committee on Customs, for a presentation with FPCCI member trade bodies across Pakistan simultaneously at FPCCI Head Office Karachi (Chair), Capital Office Islamabad and Regional Offices at Lahore, Peshawar & Quetta via Zoom Link to deliver the presentation.
The team members include Mr. Wajid Ali, Director General, Reforms & Automation, FBR; Sanaullah Abro, Director Reforms & Automation, and Arshad Hussain, Sr. Manager, PRAL, Customs House, Karachi along with representative of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The presentation was attended by the trade bodies from all over Pakistan on Zoom.
In the meantime, the trade bodies were also briefed by the other team members including representatives from the State Bank as to how to adopt the new system with minimum hurdles.
During the question-answer session, the representatives of trade bodies from all over Pakistan were invited to share their views and queries in this respect. In general, the trade bodies have shown their interest and shown their willingness to register themselves within the newly adopted system of payment of taxes.
The views were also shared by the representatives of trade bodies via Zoom Link from all FPCCI Stations who were present on Zoom.
Shabbir Hassan Mansha, Convener, FPCCI Central Standing Committee on Customs informed that his committee will organize more sessions relevant to Customs, and SBP to enhance the knowledge and relevant information on the subject.
Khurram Ijaz former vice president FPCCI while presenting the vote of thanks to the participants and the experts’ said that a close liaison between the FBR and SBP and trade bodies should be maintained by appointing a focal person from FBR and SBP respectively for the ease of trade.
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Small traders seek FPCCI help in taxation, lockdown
KARACHI: Small traders have sought help of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) in resolving their major issues including taxation and coronavirus related lockdown situation.
In this regard a delegation of All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI) under the leadership of Chairman Atiq Mir visited the FPCCI to felicitate Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo newly elected President of FPCCI on his success.
The delegation shared its concerns over the issues of taxes, lockdown situation, the anti-encroachment drive of Government, maintenance of infrastructure, emergent situations during urban flooding, and fire incidents.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo President FPCCI said that unfortunately, the megapolis is lacking the chambers for SMEs, cottage industry, and the small traders, he suggested the step by step actions to resolve the issues of markets and business community, starting from a marked area and creating the best service model and carry on the successfully tested procedure throughout the city.
He assured the social service of FPCCI to all business community without any discrimination. He proposed the delegation for a workable concept paper to set a line of action.
The meeting suggested FPCCI, being the head institute of business and industry, to support in markets sustainability and small business enterprises of Karachi.
A working group may be formed for assessing and resolving the issues under the umbrella of FPCCI.
The small business sector is willing to avoid protest for their rights if FBR announces to facilitates the taxpayers and implement business-friendly modules of tax collecting.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo President FPCCI further advised the delegation to produce a pre-budget suggestion paper in the perspective of their issues, which can be included in FPCCI pre-budget recommendations to the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan
The meeting was attended by Athar Sultan Chawla, Hanif Lakhani Vice Presidents FPCCI and the AKTI members.
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Foreign investors contribute Rs16 billion for minimizing coronavirus impact
KARACHI: The foreign investors operating in Pakistan have contributed Rs16 billion in different CSR activities and for containment of the negative impact of coronavirus.
In addition to monetary contributions the CSR activities of OICCI members included investment of their employees’ time in different value adding social activities across Pakistan with the underlying commitment to uplift the underprivileged strata of the society and support them during this most challenging time in recent memory brought about by the advent of the Corona pandemic, a statement said on Wednesday.
About 100 of the leading foreign investors, members of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), actively participated in support of the GOP’s effort to fight the pandemic of COVID-19, without stepping back from their continuing commitment to CSR activities which benefit the marginalized communities across the country.
Haroon Rashid, President OICCI applauded: “OICCI members who have been leading the contribution towards CSR initiatives and are recognized as a role model to motivate other businesses and affluent individuals“.
“Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable enhancement in the sustainability and CSR initiatives by the OICCI members through a proactive engagement between business and all stakeholders in society. OICCI members have adopted the best CSR and Sustainability practices, largely in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to meet the growing needs of the society,” Haroon added.
The annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2019-2020 brings out the essence of the CSR activities of about half of OICCI members who during 2019-20, collectively, invested about PKR 8 billion on CSR related activities, excluding those on COVID-19 mentioned above, and reached out to around 62 million direct beneficiaries throughout Pakistan.
OICCI members and their employees spent around 1.5 million man-hours and partnered with 160 social and development sector organizations in fulfilling their unique CSR programs.
The reach of the CSR activities touched all provinces and the geographic distribution was 29% in Sindh, 26% in Punjab, 14% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12% in Baluchistan, 6% in FATA, and 8% each in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
In terms of specific UN SDGs, 79% of the OICCI members focused on (i) Health and Well-Being and (ii) Quality Education, especially new primary and secondary school facilities and vocational training programs for skills development.
Many of the members also actively supported health and nutrition related initiatives through donations to reputable hospitals, medical care camps and health awareness campaigns.
OICCI in a statement highlighted that the March 2020 pandemic challenge to OICCI members, and their stakeholders, was enormous and is still continuing.
However, due to international outreach of OICCI members, they led from the front and shared the best practices for protecting the health and wellbeing of their employees, business partners and other stakeholders.
None of the OICCI members laid off their workers due to slow down in the business activity at the outbreak of the pandemic.
Most of the OICCI members positively responded to the Government of Pakistan’s call for support in containing the spread of the pandemic, protecting the health and supporting economic needs of the underprivileged populace in the face of COVID-19 immediate challenge, and contributed about PKR 7.8 billion to various pandemic focused containment causes.
It is pertinent to mention that 63% of the members were focused on Gender Equality in support of ‘OICCI Women’ initiative which is gaining momentum since its launch in 2017. “We believe the OICCI Women initiative could become a motivating factor for other businesses in Pakistan to raise the level of women participation, thereby contributing towards a rapid economic growth of the country,” M. Abdul Aleem, Secretary General OICCI commented.
OICCI Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2019-2020 released yesterday gives details of the contributions of the member companies, working across the country, in a number of diverse social sectors.
OICCI is the collective body of top 200 foreign investors in Pakistan, belonging to 35 countries, who are also the largest contributor to the economy of Pakistan besides being the largest foreign investors.
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PRGMEA supports proposal for revival of sales tax zero-rate regime
KARACHI: Exporters and manufacturers of readymade garments on Thursday supported the proposals of revival of zero-rate sales tax regime for entire textile chain.
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) in a statement endorsed the demand of PM Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood to seek zero-rating regime for whole textile chain in the Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-25, stating the apparel sector is eagerly waiting for the approval of it from the ECC to make future marketing plan in the light of new policy.
PRGMEA central chairman Sohail A. Sheikh and chief coordinator Ijaz Khokhar, in a joint statement issued here today, observed that restoration of zero-rating status of the textile sector is vital to maintain the momentum of present enhanced exports, as currently the sector is working at full capacity to meet the high demand of export orders.
“It is absolutely essential to sustain this momentum, as economic activities are largely restored to pre-Covid levels in the first quarter of current fiscal year 2020-21, PRGMEA central chairman added.
He said that the uptrend indicated a promising growth ahead in all major sectors especially the value-added apparel industry, but the risk of record high yarn prices amidst its severe shortage has continuously been posing a major threat to exports growth.
Apart from announcing five-year textile policy, the government will have to introduce some soft package for short-term period for the apparel industry to sustain the present growth as yarn prices has increased by 30-40 percent while availability is also very critical, he observed.
Sohail A. Sheikh said that the government can support the industry by restoring the zero rating of sales tax regime besides allowing duty-free cotton yarn, as the industry is hitting hard owing to shortage of its major raw material. Moreover, existing available stocks of cotton yarn are of the poor quality to help any sort of apparels manufacturing for export purposes.
Ijaz Khokhar said the situation demands that the government should immediately abolish customs duty and all types of taxes on import of cotton yarn and exporters should be given full liberty to import yarn from any country till the scarcity of cotton yarn is ended, as removal of just 5 percent regulatory duty could not have a significant effect in the local market.
He added that the value-added apparel sector has been affected badly due to delay in the final announcement of the new textile policy by Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet, as the PM has already given approval in this regard. He was of the view that a delay in textile policy may result in delay or even backing out of investors from possible investments in the industry. Currently, we are in short production capacity and several exporters are refusing export orders because there is not enough capacity available in the country. A clear long term policy will give investors a clear vision that the government of Pakistan is ready to support the apparel sector of Pakistan on long-term basis.
According to him, the new textile policy carries the potential of taking the textile sector out of a crisis like situation. He hailed the PM Advisor for making efforts for incorporating several suggestions of the PRGMEA.
Sohail A. Sheikh also called for a Soft Temporary Import for Re-Export Policy especially designed for SME’s, which are 90 percent of our export industry. This is very important to manage our global supply chain. PRGMEA has already submitted a comparative study of existing SROs and new proposed SRO, which will help us cater to the new Fast Fashion & On-line Business Model.
There is a huge demand of Certified Organic Cotton by the buyers. We the apparel sector strongly recommend that the import of Organic Yarn should be exempted from custom duty and all other taxes, till Pakistan produces its own certified organic cotton.
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Exporters demand customs duty waiver on cotton yarn
KARACHI: Value-added textile exporters on Tuesday demanded the government of abolishing customs duty on import of cotton yarn to support the industry and ensure timely completion of export orders.
“The gravity of situation demands the government to immediately abolish customs duty on import of cotton yarn either by passing through a Presidential Ordinance or by an immediate act of Parliament, in the interest of export and the country,” said Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Chairman, Pakistan Apparel Forum & Former Central Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA) in a statement.
The value-added textile exporters are highly perturbed over the unavailability of cotton yarn – which is basic raw material in the local market despite huge export orders are available with the value added textile.
However, where cotton yarn is available is of sub-standard quality owing to which exporters are unable to meet export commitment. To ensure availability of cotton yarn, PHMA had earlier demanded the Government to allow duty-free import of cotton yarn to facilitate Value-added textile export sector to achieve milestone in exports as cotton yarn was unavailable in the local market.
Nevertheless, the government considered removing the Regulatory Duty only. Sense of severe unrest and uncertainty prevails as exporters feel it “discriminatory” because in the case of cotton, the Government had allowed complete duty-free import.
Removal of regulatory duty has supported the value-added textile sector to some extent, whereas, the situation necessitates and demands to also remove the customs duty to fully support the value-added textile sector to complete their export orders which they have materialized for the next several months.
The government must realize the sensitivity of the matter to support the value-added textile exports as due to unavailability of cotton yarn, the prices of cotton yarn of 30/1 were 235 per pound during the month of October 2020 and now in January 2021 were 260 per pound there has been an increase in the yarn rates by 9.62 percent which has also brought an upshot in the cost of manufacturing pushing the exporters towards unviable situation and un-competitiveness.
The gravity of situation demands the government to immediately abolish customs duty on import of cotton yarn either by passing through a Presidential Ordinance or by an immediate act of Parliament, in the interest of export and the country.
The government must accord high priority to the matter in order to turn its policy to enhance export into reality. The exporters profoundly appreciate the government for streamlining and fully automating the sales tax refunds which have been working efficiently and delivering 99 percent result.
While the customs rebate disbursement has also been done rapidly with deliverance of 99 percent. The exporters also request the government to also streamline and automate the system for disbursement of DLTL/ DDT which should be electronically transferred to the exporters with export proceeds.
Value Added Textile Export Industry which contributes around 62 percent in total exports, provides highest urban employment particularly to female workforce and supports approximate 40 allied industries.
In view of its significant importance in the economy and free market mechanism, the government must consider the appeal of the value-added textile sector for duty-free import of cotton yarn to ensure availability of cotton yarn of good quality.
Such state of affairs demands the government to remove 5 percent custom duty on import of 32 single yarn and below count and the exporters, manufacturers and importers, shall be given full liberty to import yarn from any country till the scarcity of cotton yarn is controlled and required quantity of yarn is available in abundance in all Pakistani markets to complete the export order smoothly.
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President Alvi assures business community of resolving gas shortage
KARACHI: President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi on Saturday assured business community of resolving issue of gas shortage on priority basis.
In response to deep concerns expressed by President Karachi Chamber of Commerce Industry (KCCI) M. Shariq Vohra on serious gas crises being suffered by Karachi, President Dr. Arif Alvi assured to take up this matter with relevant ministers and update the business community within a couple of days on what exactly were the causes for gas shortages and what strategies were being devised to deal with the situation, according to a statement issued by the KCCI.
The assurance was given at a meeting held here at Governor House on Saturday in which President KCCI Shariq Vohra informed President Dr. Alvi that the ongoing gas crises in Karachi has become a very serious issue that needs to be probed because at a time when the exports were picking up, some elements somewhere in the system abruptly intervened and created gas shortage which has resulted in closure of many factories.
He feared that if the gas crises go on like this, it would become difficult not only for the exporters to dispatch their shipments on time but also the general industries will not be able ensure smooth supply goods in the local markets.
He said that the hardships being faced by the business & industrial community of Karachi due to suspension of gas supply needs to be given special attention and promptly resolved otherwise, the situation would have a serious impact on the industrial performance and the economy, besides triggering massive unemployment and poverty.
Appreciating President Alvi’s efforts being made for the betterment differently abled persons in the society who deserve access to employment, President KCCI assured that the Karachi Chamber fully supports President Alvi’s initiative and has started working on this project.
In this regard, relevant information has already been posted on KCCI’s website while emails and letters have also been sent to KCCI members and a meeting has also been convened in the month of January to discuss the possibilities of employing maximum number of disabled people in various factories and industrial units.