HYDERABAD: Newly-formed Hyder­abad Alliance of Trade and Industry’s (HATI) office bearers said on Wednesday they were seeking licence for the establishment of a new “Hyderabad Chamber”, which would fill the vacuum created by the defunct chamber whose licence had been revoked several years ago.

But still the defunct chamber continued its activities, which was nothing but a fraud with members of business community and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should take notice of it, they said.

HATI’s patron Ikram Rajput flanked by chairman Iqbal Baig, president Adeel Siddiqui, senior vice chairman Najmuddin Qureshi and secretary general Ziauddin said at a joint news briefing at a banquet in Latifabad on Wednesday that the vacuum was created when licence of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) was revoked several years back. “The defunct body was being used for certain other purposes by those who were occupying it now,” he said.

He said that business community of Hyderabad had been facing serious issues for last several years which remained unresolved in the absence of a proper forum. There was hence need for a new trade body for which licence was being sought by the office-bearers of HATI, he said.

He sought cooperation of business community of Hyderabad to strengthen the alliance which would soon be able to get the licence for new “Hyderabad Chamber” from the commerce ministry. Traders and business community should join HATI which truly represented them at relevant government forums, he said.

The alliance president Adeel Siddiqui, who was vice-president of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce for Sindh’s chambers, explained how the defunct chamber’s licence was revoked by director general of Trade Organisations and how they were applying for the new license.

He asked FIA and NAB authorities to take notice of those who were still offering membership to businessmen for the ‘defunct’ chamber. It was pure “fraud” since the “the defunct body can’t be renewed as per law,” said Siddiqui.

He said that the defunct chamber’s appeal was pending decision and HATI leadership had already applied for fresh licence for the new “Hyderabad Chamber” under new law. The present building of the defunct chamber belonged to business community but still he had applied for another land for establishing the new chamber, he said.

Siddiqui said that a new crisis was in the making for businessmen who had shops and offices on both sides of Autobahn Road as the Pakistan Railways had declared entire land adjacent to the road its property on the basis of a Supreme Court order.

He said that he had urged the government to get the Hyderabad-Kotri bridge included in CPEC projects. At present, there was no proper forum to raise genuine issues of business community and traders, he said.

HATI secretary general Ziauddin, who was among the defunct chamber’s leaders, said that he joined the alliance after having realised the old chamber had lost its legal justification and lacked registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

He said the defunct chamber belonged to business community and not to an individual. If its licence was restored or fresh licence of new chamber was obtained the new chamber would start representing businessmen and traders again, he said.

Hyderabad SITE Association leader Saman Mal said that a strong chamber was direly needed in Hyderabad, which would soon be established to represent businessmen, traders and industrialists.

Sindh Assembly member and business community leader Nadeem Siddiqui also spoke at the press briefing.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2021