Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) held a meeting with Major General Muhammad Hassan Khattak, Director General (E), ISI, and shared the input of the business community with him to improve the economy.

Speaking on the occasion, Major General Muhammad Hassan Khattak, Director General (E), ISI discussed in detail the upcoming trial of the first gold extraction machine designed for extraction of gold found in the Indus River. He also briefed him about the plan of transportation of goods through sea and rivers to meet the needs of the agriculture sector. He informed him about an emergency plan being considered for the drilling of oil and gas to address the shortage of these natural resources in the country. He shared the proposal for mineral extraction to support industrial manufacturing by the establishment of cutting and polishing units to produce value-added gemstone products. He welcomed the input of the business community for expedited measures to fix the railway system. He said that the private sector should focus on chip designing and manufacturing in Pakistan to improve exports. He said that the proposals of the business community for agricultural research and support systems and increasing the production of olive oil, mustard, and sesame need implementation to make tangible progress in these areas. He assured that he would convey the input of the business community to the relevant quarters for consideration and implementation.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the railway is the cheapest mode of goods transportation, but currently around 94% of goods are moved by road, which is more costly. He stressed that Pakistan Railways should be revamped to increase its share of goods transportation to facilitate the business community. He said that Pakistan has great potential to produce and export olive oil and stressed that the government should encourage the farmers to increase its cultivation. He said that better incentives should be provided to the industry to increase industrial activities and exports. He said that Pakistan can earn billions of dollars from IT exports and the government should give priority attention to its better growth. He said that all the loss-making state-owned enterprises should be privatized as the government has to spend billions of rupees on their bail-out. He said that last year the government spent a huge amount of Rs.1400 billion to run these SOEs. He said that the government should announce a 10-year tax policy to broaden the tax base and attract investment. He said that Pakistan needs a Charter of Economy to achieve sustainable economic growth and all political parties should work on it.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI, and Secretary General UBG Pakistan said that Pakistan should realign its foreign policy to promote regional trade blocs on the pattern of EU and ASIAN.