Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) leading a delegation visited Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries to congratulate President Sajjad Sarwar and his team. Both Chambers discussed matters of mutual interest and called upon the government to focus on promoting ease of doing business in order to revive the economy.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the small businesses are playing important role in promoting the economic activities and stressed that the government should allot plots to Chambers of Small Traders and Small Industries so that these institutions can play more effective role in promoting small businesses that will facilitate the growth of new start-ups, enhance exports, generate jobs and help revive the economy. He said that due to the high transaction costs and tough collateral requirements, small businesses are facing great problems in getting loans from banks and emphasized that the government should address this issue to increase their share in the total private sector credit so that these businesses can play an enhanced role in the economic development of the country. He assured that ICCI would cooperate with ICSTSI in resolving the key issues of small traders and small industries to facilitate their better growth.

Sajjad Sarwar, President, Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries said that close liaison and cooperation between ICCI and ICSTSI will be very helpful in serving the cause of the business community. He said that the economy of Pakistan is passing through a difficult time and stressed that promoting the ease of doing business should be the top priority of the government to improve the economy. He emphasized that CDA should construct parking plazas in markets to address the long standing issues of traders and focus on better development of markets. He said that small traders and small industries are making useful contributions towards the economy and urged that the government should focus on resolving their key issues to facilitate their better growth.

Khalid Iqbal Malik Group Leader, Zafar Bakhtawari, Zubair Ahmed Malik, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Ajmal Baloch, Khalid Chaudhry and others were in the delegation.