The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday while expressing grave concern over deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi said that it would have far reaching implications for trade and industry all over the country if necessary measures are not taken immediately to ensure normalcy there.
The LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik in a statement said that Karachi is the investment and trade gateway to Pakistan and its economy is linchpin of national economic growth performance as it contributes almost two third of the total revenue to the exchequer. Karachi, which is the world's 20th largest metropolitan area and forms the hub of Pakistan's economic activity produces about 42 percent of value added in large scale manufacturing and 25 percent of the GDP of Pakistan. In other words, the city itself contributes over 80 percent to the Gross Provincial Product. Economic activities in Karachi contribute more than $40 billion to Pakistan's total annual GDP, he added.
He further said that over 1,200 killings in Karachi in a little more than six months of 2011 are an eye opener for the government and it must review all its policies to stop killings in commercial and industrial hub of the country. If the city of Karachi continues to bleed, it is not the local investment alone that would hurt but no foreigner would visit this country for business purpose. Loadshedding situation could also aggravate because a major chunk of electricity is being produced through thermal means, he maintained.
Shahzad Ali Malik said that there was a dire need to take immediate measures to control law and order situation in the country. The government should immediately convene all parties' conference wherein business leaders should also be invited to find out a strategy to cope with this menace once for all. Involvement of foreign hand in Karachi unrest cannot be ruled out, thus the government must look the Karachi situation from this angle also. Only on Thursday, trade suffered a loss of Rs 5 billion due to sharp decline in sales in city as buyers were avoiding risk of visiting markets for the fear of anti social elements.