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| April 15, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1427 |
Welfare centres to be set up in major cities: Protection of rights
FAISALABAD, April 14: The Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectual Forum will establish a chain of centres in all major cities for the protection of women, workers, traders and intellectuals’ rights in the country.
This was stated by PBIF chairman Mian Zahid Husain at a local Press Club on Friday.
He said that powerful classes were usurping the rights of the people and there was no platform in the country for them to struggle jointly.
The PBIF chief said the time had now come for the public and government agencies to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country to put the economy on the track of progress.
The recent incident of killings in Karachi, he said, was highly condemnable and such incidents could prove inimical to the national industrial growth.
He said that trade and labour organisations were playing a role of pressure group due to which these bodies could not achieve their desired results.
Owing to a vast gap between employers and employees and all other segments of society, stakeholders could not force the government for the resolution of their problems.
The PBIF, he said, had been established after detailed meetings with representatives of various sectors, particularly the industrialist community, labour classes and intellectual organisations, so that a joint strategy could be adopted for the welfare of all segments of society.
He urged to implement joint recommendations and visions of entrepreneurs, economists and intelligentsia for the promotion of trade, cultural and social sectors.
Mr Zahid said the government should reduce the number of taxes, announce a nominal reduction in the sales tax and also eliminate the culture of double taxation.
He said the menace of smuggling was destabilising the national economy and industrialists were facing cumbersome problems as a result. Over 40 per cent of lubricants being used in the country were being smuggled from various countries. The nasty trend of under-invoicing was also rampant which should be checked through effective policies.
About the WTO regime, the PBIF chief pointed out that it was not only an opportunity for industrialists but also a challenge to compete in the global market. The government, he said, should simplify tax procedures and labour laws to provide a solid ground to businessmen for achieving maximum export targets.
He said that there was a dire need to enhance the direct foreign investment for which the existing policy structure would have to be replaced with the new one.
Exporters were in a position to achieve the export target of 20 billion dollars next year, but to get the desired results regulatory bodies should play their role in consultation with stakeholders.
Mr Zahid said that efforts should be made to introduce the export culture in the lubricant field because of its big international market.
The SMEs would have to be modernised and an independent ministry for this sector was a need of the hour, he said.
About trade with India, he said that efforts should be made to create awareness among the public that the domestic industry and its entrepreneurs could compete the Indian counterparts in all fields.
Water project: Work to lay water supply pipes in the city under a project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency will be completed within a week.
A Wasa spokesman told newsmen on Friday that the main water supply line was being laid from the University of Agriculture up to Warispura in the first phase. Under this project, an additional 20 million gallons of water per day would be pumped in to eastern part of the city. He said the contract was awarded to a Japanese firm and it had completed digging work in an organised manner. Refilling had been completed and now compaction work was in progress. Wasa would complete repair of road-cuts within a month, he said.
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