"I know it is a gigantic task but time and again the FBR officers and staff have done it in the past and I am sure with greater focus, energy and vigour in their revenue collection efforts, they can meet this year's target as well," he said.

The FBR chairman was speaking to the officers through a video-link beamed out live from the FBR House in Islamabad to the officers in FBR's field formations across the country.

He said that he had lots of expectations from the officers of both Inland Revenue Service and Pakistan Customs Service.

He urged the field formations to prove that they were capable of delivering on the hopes and promises of generating sufficient revenue to drive the socio-economic agenda of the government.

"It is a question of professional capacity, competence, prestige and honour that each one of us faces in measuring up to the challenge of achieving the tax collection target and stemming the trend of revenue shortfall that has gone unchecked for almost three quarters in a row now," he said.

The Chairman reminded the officers that there were certain areas such as recovery of arrears, realisation of revenue stuck up in litigation, regular auction of confiscated goods, implementation of valuation rulings and expeditious clearance of goods at ports and airports which with renewed efforts and greater focus could yield a considerable amount of revenue to shore up the overall revenue figures for the current year.

He said that it was his vision is to transform FBR into a choicest organisation in the public sector, by providing the best environment for discharge of duties and cares for its employees.

He also shared with the officers the aims and objectives of the FBR Foundation that had already become operational with the swearing-in of Saleem Ahmed Ranjha, a BS-21 officer of Pakistan Customs Service, as its first CEO the other day.