Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that Pakistan needs a strong economy to get its due place in the international community, and emphasized that all the stakeholders should work for steering the economy out of troubled waters and put it on the path of sustainable growth. He said that Pakistan is endowed with a lot of natural resources, which have not been utilized yet due to lack of good governance. Resultantly, Pakistan is still far behind in the race of development and the whole nation is suffering due to this situation. He said that there is a great need to create a conducive environment for business and investment in the country so that investors from all over the world are encouraged to do business and invest in Pakistan, which will improve the economy and bring prosperity to the nation. Expressing his serious concern over the recent vandalism of government and military installations in recent days, he said that Pakistan is currently going through a difficult economic situation and it is the need of the hour to end the politics of division and promote national unity. Let’s work together to make Pakistan strong because an economically strong Pakistan can provide a bright future to our generations.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari expressed regret over the desecration of martyrs’ memorials and destruction of various properties including Jinnah House. He said that the whole nation including the business community strongly condemns such incidents. He said that Pakistan is currently facing challenges on its borders including terrorism and Pakistan’s armed forces are sacrificing their lives on the front line for national defense. In these circumstances, we need to strengthen our forces. He said that any kind of campaign against the defense forces means weakening Pakistan, so every member of the nation should avoid any activity that damages our defence forces. He vowed that the business community will always stand with Pakistan’s armed forces in their efforts to defend Pakistan and will condemn any attempt to undermine them.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI, said that the current situation in Pakistan demands promotion of national unity and abandoning sit-ins and protests. He said that Pakistan’s neighboring countries are moving towards rapid development, but our country is still suffering from instability. He said that if these conditions continue, the future of our generations will be bleaker. Everyone should play a role to make Pakistan a strong economy.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that the present era is the era of economic wars and those countries are advancing in the world which are economically strong. He said that Pakistan has full potential to emerge as a strong country, so it is necessary that the leadership of the country should rise above their personal differences and keep national interests supreme. That would help Pakistan to emerge a strong economy in the region.