Experts call for ease of doing business to revive economic growth

Islamabad: Dr. Erfa Iqbal, CEO, Punjab Board of Investment and Trade, has said that the Punjab government is looking forward to receiving proposals from the business community prior to finalising the provincial budget for the next financial year.

Dr. Erfa was addressing a pre-budget meeting on ‘Better business regulations’ jointly organised here line by Sustainable Development Policy Institute and National Textile University, Faisalabad.

Dr. Erfa said that the private sector has a critical role in the growth of the economy adding that all sectors of the economy need to come up with specific suggestions about taxes, business facilitation, access to infrastructure, investments, and other related aspects of doing business.

Dr. Tanveer Hussain, Rector, National Textile University emphasised that the prosperity of a country is dependent on industrialisation. In Pakistan, the textile industry plays a pivotal role despite the turn out of the exports being low during the last ten years. He said that we need to focus on value addition and reliance on renewable energy in addition to improving research and development.

Shaban Khalid, Regional Coordinator, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority was of the view that ease of doing business in Pakistan is required and thus, SMEDA is playing a crucial role in this arena. He asked all Chambers of Commerce and Industries to highlight their capacity-building needs.

Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, stressed the fact that the upcoming Federal budget will be formulated under difficult circumstances as the government’s resources are overly stretched due to pandemic-related spending. Therefore, he said, the private sector needs to play a role in building back better.

The textile sector will play an important role in supporting Pakistan’s balance of payments and its exports will be much needed to help post-pandemic economic recovery,” Dr. Ahmed said adding that a timely regulatory impact assessment could then help rationalise various obsolete regulations which are leading to high costs for the businesses.

Mian Zafar Iqbal, Chief Executive Officer, Faisalabad Chamber of Small Traders & Small Industry, was of the opinion that the fear of harassment in the business circle by tax authorities can only be redressed by more comprehensive public-private dialogue.

Sajjad Aslam, Head of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Pakistan, observed that we need to look at the entire value chain of textile which starts from agriculture. Moreover, the focus should be on developing a framework while moving from short term to a medium, and longer-term reform plan. Muhammad Awais, Council Member, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, on the occasion, opined that the taxation structure in Pakistan is very complex for industries, particularly for SMEs. He said that reduction of tax is required as in some cases, 40-50% of incomes go in taxes.

Dr. Sajid Amin from SDPI said that the economic recovery largely depended on fiscal stimulus and support to SMEs.