Presidents of 16 Chambers of Commerce and Industries of Punjab have on Saturday formally announced the "Punjab Business Forum". Representatives of Commerce and Industry along with prominent businessmen attended the meeting chaired by Haroon Khawaja, Chairman, Chief Minister's Special Initiatives Entity.
Secretary Industries Punjab, Dr Shujaat Ali Khan, and concerned officials from Finance Department, Police, Pepco, and SNGPL were also present. Hassan Ali Bhatti, former President Sialkot CCI has been elected, as the first Chairman of PBF, while Assad Mashahdi former President Rawalpindi CCI elected, as Vice Chairman. Presidents of all Chambers of Commerce and Industry from Punjab will be members of the General Body of the PBF along with SM Tanvir Chairman PIEDMC, M. Ali Mian Former President CCI, Nabeel Hashmi Director PIEDMC & PSIC and Ibrahim Qureshi Member Executive Committee LCCI.
The Punjab Business Forum, an independent and non-political body, would focus on organising the business community of the province in order to identify genuine problems faced by the fraternity along with practical solutions. The forum intends to act as a bridge between the business community and government to start the economic activity in the country, generate employment, collect taxes and remove unnecessary red-tape and hurdles being faced by the business community.
Haroon Khawaja, Chairman, Chief Minister's Special Initiatives Entity assured the business leaders of fullest and continued support to the community. The meeting decided that each chamber shall nominate three of its best candidates to be interviewed and, if selected, groomed for the future leadership of business community.