The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) organized a business role model award ceremony to confer awards on the business leaders of the markets in recognition of their valuable services to the traders. Governor Balochistan Malik Abdul Wali Khan Kakar was the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor Balochistan Malik Abdul Wali Khan Kakar said that Balochistan is the gateway to Asia from where trade can be done with many countries. He said that due to CPEC, the importance of Balochistan has increased a lot. He invited the business community to do business and invest in Balochistan because there is great potential for them in Balochistan. He said that Balochistan is a poor province and the business community can play an important role in its development by doing business and investing in the province. He said that the resources of Balochistan are ready to be shared with everyone. He stressed that everyone should play a role to steer the country out of the current crisis. He lauded ICCI for organizing the business role model award as it will encourage the business community. At the end of the event, he distributed awards to the business leaders of the markets.

President ICCI Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that Pakistan is currently passing through a critical period in history and only the business community can get the country out of the current economic crisis, but the government's support in this regard is very important. He said that the business community plays a key role in the development of the economy by doing business and investment and their only demand is to give them their rights. He assured that the business community will provide all possible support to achieve the objectives of the Special Investment Facilitation Council so that domestic and foreign investment in Pakistan can be better promoted. He invited all the political parties to ICCI TO present their economic manifesto. He appealed to the Prime Minister and the Army Chief to establish peace in Balochistan so that the province could move towards development and prosperity. He said that Gwadar can change the destiny of Pakistan but development work in it is slow and needs to be accelerated.

Khalid Iqbal Malik, Group Leader ICCI, said that the current conditions are not favorable for business, due to which the business community is also suffering. He said that the interest rate of the SBP is 22% and the prices of petroleum products have reached the highest level in history due to which the business community as well as the people are facing great problems. He said that it is the era of economic wars and those countries are doing better with strong economies. He stressed that stakeholders should come together and prepare a comprehensive agenda to get Pakistan out of the current difficulties.

Former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG Pakistan Zafar Bakhtawari said that the enemy of Pakistan is conspiring against Pakistan in Balochistan and we all have to defeat it together. He said that Balochistan can change the destiny of not only Pakistan but the whole region because the development of Balochistan will develop the whole region. He said that the blue economy of Balochistan can start a new era of development in Pakistan. He said that development and prosperity are being achieved in the world by creating a regional trade block and opening the borders for trade, so now it is time that Pakistan should also try to develop regional trade by opening its borders with the neighboring countries.

Former President ICCI Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi also addressed the event and emphasized the need for a peaceful environment for business and investment in Balochistan.

Those who received award included Akhlaq Abbasi, Malik Naeem Akhtar Awan, Muhammad Yusuf Rajput, Abdul Ghaffar Chaudhry, Akhtar Hussain Abbasi, Zaheeruddin Babar Chaudhry, Saqib Abbasi, Abdul Rahman Siddiqui, Raja Muhammad Yasin, Farrukh Khan, Azhar Amin, Rana Zafar Iqbal, Basharatullah Kakakhil, Zahid Mehmood Qureshi, Zarif Khan, Rohail Anwar Butt, Abbas Hashmi, Altaf Ahmad Butt, Chaudhry Ashraf Farzand, Haji Zafar Iqbal, Jameel Ahmad Qureshi, Ismail Khan, Chaudhry Muhammad Irfan, Furqan Murtaza, Ms. Nasira Ali, Ms. Shamaila Siddiqui, Ms. Nausheen Arshad, Naeem Iqbal, Zubair Malik, Atiq Janjua, Rana Muhammad Akram, Rana Muhammad Altaf Hussain, Haider Cheema, Rana Asif Aziz, Faisal Nazir, Chaman Lal, Waleed Khalid, Usman Khan, Muhammad Wasim Abbasi and Muhammad Nawaz Basra.