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  • Karachi Chamber expresses concerns over pathetic performance of new refund issuance module

    Karachi Chamber expresses concerns over pathetic performance of new refund issuance module

    KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan has expressing deep concerns over the poor and pathetic performance of the recently launched Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refunds (FASTER) module.

    In a statement on Wednesday he stated that FBR claimed of processing payments of Sales Tax Refunds for the tax period July 2019 within 72 hours on September 2, 2019 through FASTER module but the ground reality was totally contrary to this claim as many exporters have not received anything and are running from pillar to post at various departments of FBR to get their claims processed and released.

    Agha Shahab pointed out that many exporters from different parts of the country have not received outstanding refunds for July 2019 which was really worrisome and too disappointing for the Business and Industrial Community as the FASTER module was launched with a commitment to release refunds within 72 hours but it was not happening at all, which has intensified the hardships for exporters who are finding it almost impossible to stay afloat due to delays in release of refund claims and rescission of SRO 1125(I)/2011 dated 31.12.2011, which allowed zero-rating of inputs of five export-oriented sectors.

    “It was a matter of grave concern that a system titled FASTER for processing refund claims within 72 hours, has actually made the entire process too messy and cumbersome while the FBR officers in Islamabad were also totally unaware and confused because of the so-called FASTER system hence, it should be remained as SLOWER”, he criticized.

    President KCCI said that it has been a month since the first tranche was processed via FASTER module but many exporters have not received funds, creating severe liquidity crunch for the exporters from five export-oriented industries which clearly indicates that FASTER system has failed miserably to improve the situation in fact it has made the refunds process more cumbersome and slower.

    While referring to Prime Minster’s recent meeting held to discuss economic issues and the problems being faced by business community, Agha Shahab requested PM Imran Khan, Advisor to Prime Minister Hafeez Shaikh, Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar and Chairman Federal Board of Revenue Shabbar Zaidi to take notice of the hardships being faced by the perturbed exporters and issue strict directives for improving the performance of FASTER module in order to save the export oriented industries from further crises which, if not timely addressed, would certainly have a deep negative impact on Pakistan’s economy particularly in a situation when all out efforts were being made by the present government to somehow reduce the current account deficit.

    He was fairly optimistic that keeping in view the government’s resolve towards ensuring the Ease of Doing Business, the decision makers would pay attention to this serious issue and order the concerned department to improve FASTER’s performance which would certainly be warmly welcomed not only by Karachi Chamber but also by all other stakeholders from across the country.

  • Karachi Chamber demands complete ban on car imports

    Karachi Chamber demands complete ban on car imports

    KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has demanded complete ban on import of luxury cars and those goods, which are already available in Pakistan.

    (more…)
  • KCCI’s president, other office bearers elected unopposed

    KCCI’s president, other office bearers elected unopposed

    KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) notified on Tuesday that all three candidates for the post of Office bearers from Businessmen Group (BMG) namely Agha Shahab Khan, Arshad Islam and Shahid Ismail have been elected unopposed as President, Senior Vice President and Vice President respectively for the year 2019-2020.

    Expressing gratitude to Almighty Allah, Chairman BMG and Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam thanked the Business & Industrial community of Karachi for reposing confidence and trust on BMG’s policies.

    Siraj Teli said, “By the grace of Almighty Allah, BMG has been winning all the elections without losing a single seat for the last 22 years and after terribly defeating the opponents in last year’s election with double the votes, BMGIANs have been blessed with yet another unopposed victory.”

    He said that 22 years of success is an acknowledgement of the public service by the Businessmen Group which also testifies that overwhelming majority of Business & Industrial Community endorses the policies of BMG because they understand and believe that BMGians are serving them selflessly for their betterment.

    BMG Chairman hoped that the newly elected BMGians will make all out efforts in espousing the cause of Business & Industrial Community and to further enhance the status of public service which is the motto of BMG.

    As the Office Bearers have been elected unopposed, hence the Managing Committee meeting to elect the Office Bearers will not be held on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

    The final results of the elections of members of Executive Committee and Office Bearers shall be officially announced at Annual General Meeting on Saturday, September 28, 2019 in which the outgoing office bearers will formally hand over the charge to incoming Office Bearers for the year 2019-20.

  • KCCI opposes proposal to extend tenure of FPCCI office bearers

    KCCI opposes proposal to extend tenure of FPCCI office bearers

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has strongly opposed to the proposal regarding extending the tenure of office bearers of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) from one year to three years, a KCCI statement said on Wednesday.

    Vice Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) & Former President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Haroon Farooki, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil and Acting President KCCI Khurram Shahzad, who represented KCCI at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Commerce & Textile held in Islamabad on Wednesday, strongly opposed the proposed Bill to extend the tenure of FPCCI’s Office Bearers from one year to three years which will not be acceptable to the Business & Industrial Community of entire Pakistan.

    The meeting, which was presided over by Chairperson of the Standing Committee ‏‏Mirza Muhammad Afridi, was also attended by PM’s Advisor on Commerce Razzak Dawood and other prominent members of the Standing Committee along with representatives of Chambers of Commerce from different provinces of the country.

    While sharing their opinion over this particular issue, KCCI’s representatives pointed out that the tenure of FPCCI’s President currently lasts for one year but some elements were attempting to extend this term to three years through amendments in relevant laws which was not practical and would be strongly resisted by the business & industrial community.

    “It is going to be a sheer injustice for those Chambers of Commerce who intend to take charge of the apex body but after such an extension of three years, any chamber of commerce from any province of the country will have to wait for more than two decades to reassume the charge of FPCCI’s presidency”, they added.

    Vice Chairman BMG Haroon Farooki stated that the bill proposes amendment in Section 11 of Trade Organization Ordinance (TOO) 2013 which pertains to one year tenure of the Office Bearers but this particular section was not confined to the tenure of FPCCI Office Bearers only as it was also applicable on all other Chambers of Commerce and Trade bodies. “This bill seeking amendment in Section 11 of TOO 2013 is not practically, technically and legally implementable for FPCCI only as it will have an impact on all the trade bodies hence it must be immediately withdrawn”, he added.

    KCCI’s representatives emphasized that the said Bill to extend the tenure of FPCCI Office Bearers should have been consulted with the all the stakeholders prior to bringing it at the Senate for debate and fact-findings. Majority of the business community in fact the entire business community of country was against this bill hence, it should be immediately dismissed, they demanded.

    After listening to KCCI’s point of view and all the reservations expressed by the representatives of other Chambers, the proposer of the Bill and PM’s Advisor Razzak Dawood, while agreeing to KCCI’s viewpoint, immediately withdrew the bill which was warmly welcomed by all the representatives of the business & industrial Community present at the meeting.

  • KCCI warns of mass unemployment, business closure on new mini budget

    KCCI warns of mass unemployment, business closure on new mini budget

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has warned the government of mass unemployment and closure of business as a result of any move to introduce mini budget or imposing additional taxes to bridge the fiscal deficit.

    In a statement on Friday, Acting President of KCCI Khurram Shahzad, while referring to various rumors and some media buzz going on about the announcement of yet another mini budget or imposition of additional taxes to overcome the yawning deficit, warned that any such move would prove ruinous for the economy as the industries and businesses, which were already underperforming due to imposition of exorbitant taxes in the budget for current fiscal year, will not be able to sustain the impact of more additional taxes.

    Khurram Shahzad stated that the business & industrial community was not in a position to bear any more of such shocks which would lead to closure of many businesses and cause massive unemployment which was already on the rise therefore, the government must strictly refrain from such an anti-business and anti-industry move.

    Referring to the forthcoming visit of the IMF team which is due after Aashura to discuss fiscal issues with special focus to restrict target of primary deficit within the desired limits, Khurram Shahzad pointed out that under IMF conditions, the primary deficit has to be brought down from 1.8 percent of GDP to 0.6 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year but, instead of declining, the deficit has gone all the way up to 3.6 percent.

    “It means that the government will have to carry out massive adjustments of Rs1,300 billion to reduce primary deficit to 0.6 percent of GDP which many experts believe will be done through another mini budget in which more additional taxes are likely to be imposed but this unwise move would plunge the country into further economic crises and the economy may reach to a point of no return,” he added.

    He said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), on one hand, has been claiming that the tax base has improved to 2.561 million taxpayers and the overall growth was also achieved while on the other, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has forecasted further economic slowdown while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also expressed deep concerns over worsening fiscal front, creating a very confusing situation which was beyond business community’s understating. “We are totally confused about the ground realities as the statements given by FBR were contradicting what the State Bank and IMF have been forecasting”, he added.

    Khurram Shahzad said that the business & industrial community fully respects and appreciates the vision, thinking and resolution of Prime Minister Imran Khan which would certainly transform Pakistan into the most flourishing economy of the region but in order to pull the economy out of crises, the decision makers will have rethink all the strategies and policies which have proved counterproductive so far and instead of showing any signs of improvement, these measures have actually broken the backbone of common man due to across-the-board inflation and also radically enhanced the cost of doing business, resulting in the overall depressed performance of almost all the businesses including Large Scale Manufacturing Units, SMEs and export oriented industries and other businesses.

    “We, the business and industrial community of Karachi, are hoping that the PTI government would review all its existing policies and strategies which have failed miserably to provide any relief neither to the business & industrial community nor to common man and they come up with those practical steps in consultation with all the stakeholders which prove favorable for the economy, businesses and the common man,” he added.

  • High tax rates to discourage industrialization: KCCI

    High tax rates to discourage industrialization: KCCI

    KARACHI: Raising the tax rate is not the right solution for enhancing revenue as it will discourage expansion and industrialization but the actual solution lies in broadening the tax net, Junaid Makda, President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said in a statement on Saturday.

    The broadening of the tax base will subsequently share the burden and bring down the tax rates that would surely encourage the business & industrial community to go for expansion, Junaid Makda said, adding that it would in turn result in maximum production, excellent sales, enhanced revenue collection, massive number of employment opportunities, poverty alleviation and long term economic prosperity.

    Makda, while appreciating the good intent of Prime Minister Imran Khan to improve the revenue collection, was, however, skeptical as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which is responsible to implement the policies for enhancing revenue from all over the country, has kept its revenue collection activities confined to Karachi only whereas the rest of Pakistan stands exempted from all these policies as perceived.

    Junaid Makda said that FBR wants to achieve the revenue target by further squeezing the existing taxpayers of Karachi which was already contributing a mammoth sum of more than 70 percent revenue to the national exchequer whereas no such activity was visible in any other city or province of the country.

    “We are not against the actions being taken to strictly deal with tax evaders from Karachi who must also be brought into the tax net along with tax evaders from other areas of the country but the loyal taxpayers should not be harassed and overburdened with exorbitant taxes,” he added while underscoring the need to strictly implement policies in every single nook and corner of the country.

    He said that the cost of doing business was already too high due to import/ regulatory duties, upsurge in dollar rate and exorbitant taxes etc. while many industries were finding it hard to continue their activities and even those industries, which were somehow surviving, have no other option but to pass on the burden to consumers that has resulted in across-the-board inflation.

    He stressed that the government will have to follow the supply side of economics where more revenue is generated through growth, wherein taxes are reduced along with consumer prices that would lead to quantum growth and appreciation in net revenue as well.

    Increase in taxes reverses the growth and it would start declining, ultimately reduce the revenue already being achieved and above all high taxes are incentive for evasion, he added.

    President KCCI requested the Prime Minister Imran Khan to issue directives for broadening the tax base and implementing the relevant policies all over the country in letter and spirit which would certainly yield positive results.

    He reaffirmed that exorbitant tax rates along with cumbersome procedures and frequent issuance of anti-business and anti-taxpayers SROs/ notifications would result in closure of massive number of industrial units, significantly dent government’s revenue and render hundreds of thousands jobless.

    “We understand that the country is in dire need of additional revenue but one should realize that revenue must come from new sources and even if it is taken from old sources, it needs to be rationalized and kept at the lowest level in order to attract thousands of individuals, who prefer to stay away from the tax net keeping in view the hardships being faced by loyal taxpayers”, Junaid Makda said, adding that heavy taxation has been imposed across the board and this additional burden has terribly affected the businesses and growth, which is already in a declining mode and may suffer more in the days to come.

  • KCCI managing committee elected unopposed for next two years

    KCCI managing committee elected unopposed for next two years

    KARACHI: All candidates of Businessmen Group (BMG) have been elected unopposed for the Managing Committee of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the term 2019-2021.

    According to details, a total of 32 nominations were received by the Election Commission who all belonged to Businessmen Group, a statement said on Saturday

    The nominations papers were scrutinized by the Election Commission, which rejected 10 nomination papers by declaring them invalid whereas 7 candidates withdrew their nomination papers, resulting in unanimous election of the remaining 15 BMG candidates.

    Therefore, all 15 BMGIANs were declared successful in KCCI’s Election 2019-21.

    Siraj Kassam Teli, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) and Former President KCCI, on the occasion, expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah and conveyed thanks and compliments to the Business and Industrial community of Karachi for reposing confidence and trust on Businessmen Group.

    Siraj Teli said, “By the grace of Almighty Allah, BMG has been winning all the elections without losing a single seat for the last 22 years and after terribly defeating the opponents in last year’s election with double the votes, BMGIANs have been blessed with an unopposed victory by the Almighty Allah.

    He said that 22 years of success is an acknowledgement of the public service by the Businessmen Group which also testifies that overwhelming majority of Business and Industrial Community endorses the policies of BMG because they understand and believe that BMGians are serving them selflessly for their betterment.

    BMG Chairman hoped that the newly elected BMGians will make all out efforts in espousing the cause of Business and Industrial Community and to further enhance the status of public service which is the motto of BMG.

    The successful BMGians include names of Mohammad Junaid Mundia, Arshad Islam, Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Altaf Tai, Abdul Samad Shaikh, Atif Jamil ur Rehman, Muhammed Asif, Chaudhry Nasir Abdullah, Ibrahim Mustafa Ahmed Shamsi, Rafiq Muhammad Siddiq, Khurram Ajaz, Ovais Adil, Abdul Rehman Punjwani, Sohail Usman Sheikh and Junaid ur Rehman.

    As the Managing Committee members have been unanimously elected, hence no general election for Managing Committee will be held on September 21, 2019 whereas the election of KCCI’s Office Bearers for 2019-20 is scheduled to be held on Thursday, September 26, 2019 wherein BMG’s candidates Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan for President, Arshad Islam for Senior Vice President and Shahid Ismail for Vice President will be elected unanimously as the Managing Committee comprises of all BMGIANs.

  • KCCI seeks 90-day extension for clearance relaxation in printing retail price

    KCCI seeks 90-day extension for clearance relaxation in printing retail price

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the relaxation for further 90 days that was given for clearance of imported items without printing of retail price.

    Junaid Esmail Makda, President, KCCI has requested the FBR to extend the relaxation given for clearance of imported items under Third Schedule without printing of retail price or affixing stickers for 90 more days as the import orders were booked in advance for around 3 to 6 months while the packaging of the ordered products was already designed and printed at the initial stage.

    In a letter sent to Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi, President KCCI stated that on KCCI’s request FBR gave an extension of just 15 days for the implementation of the said condition but it was too short for importers to fulfill the new requirements and the process still remains incomplete, hence, the relevant notification should be extended for 90 days.

    He was of the opinion that it was not possible to re-print MRP on the old stock while any request of making changes at the eleventh hour are unacceptable to the sellers and spoils the credibility / goodwill of the trader.

    “The MRP cannot be assessed by the importer as they sell their imported goods to dealers who sell to distributors and they subsequently sell to retailers across the country while the end retail price including all the margins was determined afterwards which varies in different cases and cannot be standardized across Pakistan”, he added.

    He said that KCCI has received repeated requests from the importers that they were facing severe problems in meeting the requirements of printing Minimum Retail Price (MRP) on items added under the Third Schedule. In the Finance Act 2019-20, Sales Tax has been imposed at the import stage based on the printed MRP and many new items have been added to the Third Schedule of Sales Tax Act 1990.

    He said that on KCCI’s request, FBR allowed clearance of imported Third Schedule items without printing of retail price or affixing stickers for which goods declaration are filed by 31st July, 2019 subject to the condition that the importer declares retail price for each of the imported items for the assessment of sales tax vide Sales Tax General Order No. 102 / 2019 dated July 15, 2019 to clear the backlog at the ports.

    He reiterated that it is impractical to pre-assess and then print the MRP at import stage on each and every item as a lot of factors affect the retail prices of the products like currency fluctuations, packing style, fragility and size of product, distance from ports &, transportation costs, market dynamics, competition, shelf life, and uncertainties of sale in future especially for seasonal items.

    Hence, Junaid Makda requested to withdraw the condition of printing MRP on imported goods or otherwise, allow MRP of the imported items to be declared on WEBOC along with the Goods Declaration (GD) for tax assessment purposes instead of being printed on each and every imported item. After the imposition of MRP, what will be the status of Import Trade Price (ITP) / Customs Valuation of items in the third schedule which also needs to be clarified, he added.

  • KCCI hails withholding tax exemption to yarn traders

    KCCI hails withholding tax exemption to yarn traders

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has hailed the decision of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to exempt withholding tax for yarn traders.

    In a statement issued on Monday President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda appreciated the FBR for holding numerous meeting with KCCI and taking into consideration KCCI’s suggestion pertaining to exemption of withholding tax to yarn traders into consideration as they were overburdened with additional taxes.

    Makda pointed out that under Section 45A of Part IV of the Income Tax Ordinance about Exemption from Specific Provisions, the sales, supplies and services made by traders of yarn to taxpayers from textile & articles, carpets, leather and Articles including artificial leather footwear, surgical goods and sportswear sector will not be subjected to deduction of withholding tax.

    He said that such traders of yarn shall pay 0.1 percent minimum tax on their annual turnover on monthly basis on the 30th day of each month and monthly withholding tax statement shall be e-filed under the provision of section 165 of the Income Tax Ordinance, which was widely being demanded by relevant stakeholders.

    He hoped that misinterpretation and incorrect application of Section 113 of Income Tax Ordinance which was against the spirit of SRO 333 (I) 2011 will not be repeated again and FBR would continue to take more such steps which were badly needed as the loyal taxpayers from different sectors of the economy were facing immense hardships and were finding it hard to continue their businesses because of exorbitantly high cost of doing business which must be brought down to provide a level playing field and make Pakistani goods competitive.

  • UAE announces opening visa centers at Karachi, Islamabad

    UAE announces opening visa centers at Karachi, Islamabad

    KARACHI: United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced to open visa centers in Karachi and Islamabad this year in order to facilitate Pakistanis, said UAE Ambassador Hamad Obaid Alzaabi.

    UAE Embassy will be opening a visa center in Karachi which will become operational in the first week of September 2019 while another visa center will also become functional in Islamabad in the first week of October 2019 which would provide all facilities here in Pakistan.

    “Everything will be here including the medical insurance, checkups and the contracts etc. to facilitate visa issuance from the visa center in Karachi which will be the biggest visa center of Asia while the entire team for this Visa Center at Khayaban-e-Shamsheer in Karachi will come from UAE”, he added while exchanging views at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) on Friday.

    Deputy Consul General of UAE Bakheet Ateeq Alremeithi, Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior Vice President KCCI Khurram Shahzad, Vice President KCCI Asif Sheikh Javaid and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting.

    While expressing gratitude to KCCI for extending warm hospitality on his visit to KCCI, UAE Ambassador said that he has visited many areas of Pakistan including Faisalabad, Sialkot, Lahore, Peshawar, South Waziristan and Quetta but Karachi was one of the most important cities of Pakistan where social life, atmosphere, culture and people were very different as compared to other areas including Islamabad.

    UAE Envoy stated that relations between Pakistan and UAE have always been very strong and historical but there was a need to further build these relations by exploring the opportunities and potential areas for enhancing trade and investment. “The governments of UAE and Pakistan are working very hard to narrow the gap and find opportunities, chances and potential for trade and investment”, he added.

    “We are trying to find new areas of cooperation where we could work together and also examining the challenging areas so that these could be addressed by the authorities in UAE. Inshallah we will put our hands together to move forward in future”, he added.

    He further informed that UAE was now offering Silver Investment Visa for 5 years and Golden Investment Visa for 10 years which were being issued under a specific criteria and depend on the size of a company and also the amount being invested.

    He stressed the need for having legal framework between UAE and Pakistan to encourage and save investments made either in Pakistan or in UAE.

    Agreeing to President KCCI’s suggestion of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between KCCI and UAE Chamber, he said it was really important so that a framework could be defined because when there was a gap and no official visits, the business communities and Chambers of Commerce simply will have no idea about the business potential in Pakistan and UAE. “Any suggestion from Karachi Chamber which pertains to signing MoUs, agreements, workshops, conferences and seminars will certainly be taken into consideration”, he assured, “We are ready to support you and whatever you need, we are always there at the UAE Embassy and Consulate in Karachi to assist you.”

    Chairman BMG & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, in his remarks, appreciated the support and cooperation being extended by UAE’s Embassy and its Consulate in Karachi as they have been fully facilitating KCCI’s visa requests from time to time and they haven’t faced any problems at all in this regard. However, he requested the Deputy Consul General to devise some kind of system in collaboration with KCCI so that visas could be issued to credible businessmen and industrialists with a personal guarantee by KCCI. He informed that Karachi Chamber thoroughly reviews and verifies all the documents being submitted by its members intending to obtain KCCI’s visa recommendation letter so that only genuine businessmen could avail this facility.

    He also requested the Ambassador to only entertain visa recommendation letters and requests from those Chambers of Commerce and trade associations which were legally registered at the Ministry of Commerce. In Pakistan particularly in Karachi, there were a lot of paper-based and bogus forums and Councils etc. which were not legally registered, he noted, adding that in this regard, UAE Embassy can easily obtain a list of all legal Chambers of Commerce and trade bodies along with their jurisdiction details from the Ministry of Commerce that would help in better understanding the legalities and jurisdictions of 42 Chambers of Commerce and around 120 sector-specific trade associations in Pakistan, he added.

    While welcoming the UAE Ambassador, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda expressed the intention to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with UAE Chamber in order to improve the trade and investment ties and bring business communities more close to each other. “We should work collectively to enhance bilateral trade and deal with all the irritants and barriers, particularly the non-tariff barriers between the two countries.”

    He said that although tourist visa was being offered without any problem but the UAE government must also look into the possibility of issuing business visas to Pakistan’s business community.

    Junaid Makda informed that around 1.6 million Pakistanis were residing in different cities of UAE. The country received remittance of $4.62 billion from UAE during Fiscal Year 2019, making it one of the most attractive destination for Pakistani workers.

    He said, “Pakistan was going through a very hard time in terms of economic conditions but UAE’s support has been remarkable and we are very grateful for helping Pakistan with $3 billion balance-of-payments support.