PESHAWAR: The executive committee of Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) appointed Mariam Iqbal and Haji Iftikhar Ahmed as the vice chairmen and Mohammad Atta ur Rehman Yousafzai as secretary general of the forum’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chapter, including Akbar Khan as PBF president Swat, said a notification issued here on Saturday.

Newly appointed PBF’s office-bearers said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was currently facing significant challenges across economic, social, security, and political domains.

They said that to attract investment in the current environment, the KP government must build sector-specific institutional expertise.

Vice chairperson Mariam Iqbal said despite these challenges, long-term strategic thinking was vital to shaping policies that meet the people’s expectations.

She said with a population exceeding 41 million, where 50 per cent were youth and nearly five million are out-of-school children, the current economic and political climate presented a unique opportunity to invest in meaningful and transformative change.

PBF vice chairman Iftikhar Ahmad said in the current environment overwhelmed with rival politics, the government must break free from the short-term thinking that had hindered our economy for decades and implement policies that address the significant challenge of achieving everlasting prosperity.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024