We must focus on development of the small & cottage industries: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD, Sep 13 (SABAH): President Dr. Arif Alvi has said that we must focus on the development of the small and cottage industries coupled with the skill development of the youth which would not only provide a livelihood to the masses but will also have a salutary impact on the socio-economic development of the country.

President Dr. Arif Alvi expressed these views while addressing the Achievement Awards Ceremony organized by the Sargodha Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), at Aiwan-e-Sadr. President SCCI, Chaudhary Shoaib Ahmed Basra, also addressed the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony, President Dr. Arif Alvi emphasized the need to bring innovative ideas through the introduction of high-tech business processes and improving the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) in the country, which, he said, would have salutary effects on the growth and development of small, medium and large scales industries in Pakistan. He said that the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) was of pivotal importance in the economic development of the country and Pakistan had taken tangible steps to improve its ranking in the EODB Index.

President Dr. Arif Alvi asked the business community to voluntarily pay due taxes which, he said, would provide liquidity to the government for improving roads, utilities and other services for the business community, thus helping the business community to further improve their business processes and become price competitive in the local and international markets. He also urged the business community to work towards the documentation and digitization of the economy, adding that the documentation of the economy would resolve major tax issues and would minimize the exploitation and maladministration of the tax authorities.

The President highlighted that the Muslim world had always delayed the adaptation of technology on one pretext or the other. He added that IT was the future and we must adopt the new technologies in all spheres of life in order to compete with the world. He also called for the inclusion of women in business activities, adding that no country could tread the path of development by leaving behind half of its population. He also called upon the business community and the industrialists to keep social welfare at the forefront of their business policies and to play their role in uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the people of their respective areas.

President Dr. Arif Alvi said that industries and businesses played a key role in the progress and development of the country and the prosperity of its people. He appreciated the industrialists and businessmen of Pakistan for achieving the highest ever export growth of 30% and achieving the export target of USD 32 billion last year. He expressed the hope that the business community would keep its momentum this year as well in order to overcome the country’s widening trade deficit.

The President said that conducive and business-friendly policies of the government; determination, hard work and innovation brought by the businesspersons in their business processes; expanding their reach in the existing export markets, and exploring new export markets had brought visible improvements in the industrial and business sectors of the country. The President said that the government was well aware of the issues and difficulties faced by the business community and was making utmost efforts to improve the ease of doing business in Pakistan and to provide them with the confidence and patronage to improve their businesses. He said that Pakistan was enriched with natural resources, besides possessing adequate human resources which, if provided with quality education and skills, could bring much-needed competitiveness to the industrial and business sectors of the country.

President Dr. Arif Alvi commended the country’s chambers of commerce, especially the SCCI, for providing much-needed leadership to the business community of their area, and added that the chambers of commerce were important institutions, which provided vision and leadership to the business community by providing the industrial and business sectors with effective forums for sharing their ideas, making experiments, bringing new and high-value technology and finding foreign markets for their products and services.