Businessmen in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) have shown great concerns over the deteriorating law & order situation in Karachi and termed it an ominous situation for the economic stability of the country as it will hamper growth and investment.

They said the widespread violence in Karachi have reportedly caused about Rs.10 billion business loss to the traders in just two days which clearly shows its dangerous implications for the country and urged that government should take urgent measures for bringing the situation under control and to save the economy from further damages.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool, President, ICCI said that Karachi is the hub commercial and industrial activities and maintaining peace in this volatile city should be the top most priority of the government. He said Karachi contributes major share to country’s economic growth and tax revenue generation. However, any disturbance in the metropolitan will directly hit the overall economy.

He said traders have already expressed fears of losing business orders of about Rs.2 billion for Eid ul Fitr if the government did not restore peace in the city. Therefore, government should not spare any effort to bring the city to its normal condition and to save entrepreneurs from further destruction, he stressed.

Businessmen said that Pakistan is already facing serious problems in luring investment as the country has witnessed 56 percent decline in foreign direct investment during the outgoing fiscal year. Moreover, the destruction caused by torrential rains & flashfloods in different areas of the country will put the economy under more stress.

In these circumstances, government should take all possible steps to restore the damaged infrastructure and improve the business environment. However, they said that violence in Karachi will foil all efforts to create an enabling environment in the country.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool said that government should take all stakeholders into confidence and engage them in a comprehensive dialogue process to end the violence and to restore peace in Karachi so that the country could be saved from further social, political and economic destabilization.