Government urged to restore peaceful environment to stop flight of capital

Leader of business community and former president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), S M Munir has said that peaceful environment and improved law and order is vital to stop flight of capital from the country. Speaking at a dinner reception hosted by Chairman of Afeef Group, Rashid Siddiqui, Munir emphasised the need that the home minister should stay in city till law and order is fully re-established in the financial hub of the country.
He said that the country has so far lost billions of rupees owing to loss of confidence of the investors and even the very loyal industrialists were considering packing up business in such a state of affairs when Karachi has become target of fanatics, and innocent people are being killed in factional hostility.
He said that it were the members of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) who had urged the government to deploy army in Karachi to control law and order and re-establish peace. He added that FPCCI and other trade bodies after that joined hands with KATI and persuaded the government to deploy army if it had failed to control law and order in Karachi.
He said that with the efforts of the government, law and order condition has started limping towards normalcy. Munir said that unpleasant incidents similar to Pakistan also happen even in UK and USA but their government by no means spare any body which helps them uphold the law and order. He paid rich compliment to Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan as Chairman of KITE Ltd and improving infrastructure in Korangi Industrial Area.
He also commended the efforts of PBIF chief, Zahid Husain for the business community in general and for KATI members in particular. He lauded the KATI's performance under the chairmanship of Johar Ali Qandhari. President of Pakistan Businessmen and Industrialists Forum (PBIF), Zahid Husain, announced that KATI has set up a flood relief fund for Sindh's flood victims and urged the business and industrialists community to donate generously in the fund to help their brethren facing enormous problems in interior of the province.
He further announced that S M Munir has already contributed a huge amount to the fund. He said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made the ST returns procedure extremely cumbersome without any justification. He said that business community would not accept this and the FBR should revert to the previous procedure. He called upon the KWSB high-ups to resolve water problems in Korangi Industrial Area as industries are suffering due to intermittent water supply by the KWSB. Vice President of FPCCI, Khalid Tawab, Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan, Rashid Siddiqui and President Defence Residents Society, Zafar Iqbal also spoke on the occasion.