Govt to change mindset by creating more facilities for businesses: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday said the government would change the mindset by creating more facilities for businesses to make their products more competitive for exports.

There would be a changed mindset in near future with policies to promote wealth creation and facilitate businesses, which were inevitable for increasing exports and reducing trade deficit, he added while speaking here at the 42nd Export Trophy Awards distribution ceremony of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).

The prime minister said the government would introduce fundamental reforms to restructure the economy and strengthen domestic industry. Special attention was being given to facilitate Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) while more facilities would be provided to the exporters.

It was never thought in the past to promote trade and investment, and priority was given to only collection of wealth, which led to collapsing of the industry, he added.

He cited the examples of Singapore and Malaysia which had export volumes of $330 billion and $220 billion respectively despite having small populations. On the contrary Pakistan, with a population of 21 billion, had just $24 billion exports, he added.

“The fault lies with our mindset as we have never thought to devise such policies for making money through legal means and not profiteering,” the prime minister said.

He said the time had come to take stock of the mistakes committed in the past and cope with the series of failures. He asked the bureaucracy to change their mindset and create easiness for businessmen and industrialists as it would bring prosperity in the country.

The prime minister said when the present government came into power four months back his concentration was just on foreign exchange reserves. All the government’s efforts and policies would start bearing fruits gradually, he added.

He said his government had decided to establish exclusive offices at the PM Office to handle the issues related to ease of doing business and committed for a frequent interaction with the business community to take their input and to know the impact of the government policies.

He referred to the life led by Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him ) and the caliphs after the establishment of Riasat-e-Madinah and resolved to emulate such a lofty precedent.

The prime minister said for the first time reforms were being brought in the taxation system where tax collection and tax policy wings had been separated in the Federal Board of Revenue.