Business community calls for 30-year economic vision, charter of economy

Islamabad:  Former vice president, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Mohammad Adnan Jalil on Wednesday called for framing a 30-year economic vision for the country including the signing of a charter of the economy by all political parties and a roadmap for economic development.

He said that the vision prepared in this connection should be reviewed after the passage of a period of five years and no government should be allowed to change it on their own.

He said that due to inconsistency in policies and frequent changes in them, they are issuing a huge number of SROs, which should be stopped. So they should have a 30-year vision, which should not be changed by the subsequent governments.

The FPCCI, all chambers and the business community should be taken on board to seek a solution and how should we enhance our exports. He said that at this moment our exports are about US$ 30 billion and half of it is from the textile sector.

He said that elections have been passed, so now all political parties should show maturity and join hands for the country and its people. So, wisdom and unity must take place, because Pakistan is passing through economic turbulence.

He said we are in the 21st century and the world moving in the right direction then why not our country, which has potential and its people are resilient and hardworking.

He said that we are required to adopt fixed taxation and it should be imposed on all those who are not under the umbrella of any tax collection authority including Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and provincial revenue authority. So if somebody is not paying any tax they should be imposed with a fixed tax of a minimal amount of Rs.1000/- to Rs.12000 per year. This fixed tax should be imposed on all shops to generate revenue for the country.

In this connection, he said the government can take the trading community including FPCCI and traders’ associations on board.

He said that the government should work in collaboration with the business community and restructure the taxation system in a manner to make it easy, simplified and workable.

For reduction in inflation and eradication of corruption, Adnan Jalil proposed demonetization of the currency note of Rs.5000/- in first phase and Rs.1000/- in the second phase.