The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said on Thursday it was ready to support Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) provided the government and business community sit together and resolve refund blockage problems.
Talking to Business Recorder after FPCCI delegation's meeting with the Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, its Chairman Haji Ghulam Ali said that delay in refund payment was one of the major concerns of business community and there should be a law for payment of interest by the government in case of more than one month delay in the refund. He said that the business community was not against RGST or any other tax but if there were technical problems in it, the government should first address them.
He said that business community was also not against the flood tax and fully supported it because this was a one-time tax and would be used for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people. He claimed that the Prime Minister had directed his economic team to sit with business community to solve the problem of refund in the light of their recommendations. Chairman FPCCI said representatives of business community and officials of FBR would hold a meeting anytime soon on the issue of refund with a view to making it more efficient in RGST regime.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister Secretariat after the meeting stated that "Prime Minister thanked the FPCCI for expressing their willingness and support on Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST)". Gilani said that the private sector was the engine of growth and the government would play the role of a facilitator for promotion of business activity. He congratulated the new office-bearers of FPCCI on their election and hoped that the new set-up would play its due role in strengthening the government in promoting socio-economic interests of the country. The prime minister said that the FPCCI was an apex body representing the mainstream business community of the country which formed the backbone of national economy.
Gilani said that his government was a business-friendly administration and stressed upon the need of better understanding between the government and business sector. He assured the delegation that Pakistan's mission abroad would be instructed to accord full protocol to the office-bearers of the FPCCI during their visits of foreign countries.
The prime minister appreciated the contributions of the business community for splendid export growth during this year, which would be celebrated as the "year of export." He directed that all business delegations should be selected in consultation with the FPCCI. The government will engage the business representatives in the budget-making process and will welcome their proposals. He also directed the ministry of commerce to involve the representatives of FPCCI in preparation of trade policy, he added.
Gilani commended the gesture of the FPCCI for supporting flood tax to mitigate the sufferings of the flood-affected people and announced that gas load-shedding will end by the15th March 2011. The prime minister said that 1100 mega watts of power was in the pipeline which would be inducted in the main system in the near future. The government has already inducted more than1700 mega watts of additional power since coming to power in March, 2008, he added.
The government has also undertaken work on long-term power generation projects to solve problems of power outage which has badly affected industrial output in the country, Gilani said adding that despite agreement of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources with the textile sector regarding provision of gas supply during nine months in a year, the government was supplying gas to textile units 5-days-a-week even during a lean period.
In response to the request of one of the office-bearers of the FPCCI for allowing export of all construction material beside cement to Afghanistan through the Ghulam Khan Customs Check Post, the prime minister directed the concerned quarters to examine the proposal.
The president of the FPCCI expressed condolences with the prime minister on the tragic death of federal minister for minorities affairs Shahbaz Bhatti. He assured the prime minister that the business community of Pakistan would always give priority to national interest. Ghulam Ali said that the business community would cooperate with government to bring the country out of the current economic difficulties. He said the business community was cognisant of the revenue problems and would support the government to enhance its revenue collection. He also supported increase in petroleum prices.
The office-bearers of the FPCCI asked the prime minister to involve the business representatives at the policy making level and take all the stakeholders on board. They also demanded that the registration of medicines should be done at the federal level and suggested to form a centralised drug control authority in the country after devolution of the ministry of health.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fabim, Federal Minister for Textile Industry Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir HazarKhan Bijarani, Senator Haji Adeel Khan, Secretary Finance, Secretary Commerce, Chairman FBR, Secretary Water and Power, Secretary Industries and Production, Secretary Textile Industry, Secretary Petroleum, Vice President FPCCI, Mr. Khalid Tawab, Vice President FPCCI, Dawood Usman Jakhura, Vice President FPCCI, Fazle Elahi, Vice President FPCCI, Muhammad Usman Shaikh, Vice President FPCCI, Ch. Aamer Ata Bajwa, Vice President FPCCI, Muhammad Akbar Khan, Vice President FPCCI, Ghulam Farooq, Former President FPCCI, Tariq Sayeed, Former President FPCCI, Iftikhar Malik, Immediate Past President of the FPCCI, Sultan Ahmad Chawla, Member Executive Committee FPCCI, Mian Zahid Hussain, Former Vice President FPCCI, Zubair Malik, and a lady member from Women's Chambers.
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