Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that delay in the approval of commercial buildings plans by CDA leads to the losses of millions of rupees due to cost escalation and urged that the civic body should streamline this lengthy process to save investors from unnecessary losses. He said this while addressing a delegation of Islamabad Estate Agents Association that visited ICCI led by its President Sardar Tahir Mehmood.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that almost 95 per cent of the issues of traders and industrialists in the federal capital were related to the CDA and he would work closely with it for their redress. He said that markets and industrial areas needed urgent attention of the CDA for better development as roads and footpaths were broken, streetlights were not working, filtration plants in many markets were faulty. He appealed to the Chairman CDA Amir Ali Ahmed to address these issues on priority basis so that the business community can feel facilitated in promoting business activities and developing the economy.

Speaking at the occasion, Sardar Tahir Mehmood, President, Islamabad Estate Agents Association said that the Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced an attractive package for the construction industry with a view to reviving the economic activities, which was valid till December. However, the FBR has issued an SRO which can affect the PM’s package significantly. He demanded that the date of the construction package should be extended at least for another year to enable maximum investors to take benefit of it.

Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, former President ICCI and Chaudhry Zahid Rafique General Secretary Islamabad Estate Agents Association stressed upon the CDA to work for resolving the key issues of business community on priority so that business activities could grow smoothly. They said that sometimes, CDA was not accepting transfer letters of plots issued by it, which was creating problems for the business community. They urged for an effective one-window facility and implementation of a file tracking system in CDA to improve its performance. They said that they had been working in cooperation with ICCI in the past for achieving the common objectives and assured that they would continue to extend full cooperation to the new leadership of the Chamber for serving the cause of the business community.

Ms. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Chaudhry Masood, Abid Khan, Khalid Chaudhry, Ashfaq Chatha, Naveed Malik, Chaudhry Nadeem ud Din, Imran Bukhari, Nawaz Basra, Rana Ikram, Ch. Akram, Zulqarnain Abbasi, Ch. Naseer, Rana Altaf, Tanvir Nasim, Raja Amin, Zia Abbasi, Waheed Khan, Rana Arshad, Malik Ismail, Agha Ahtesham, Rana Qaiser, Aslam Khokhar, Yasin Anjum, Abdul Basit, Rao Tariq  and others also expressed their views and assured their full support to ICCI in its endeavours for resolving the problems of the business community.