(Sept 02, 2020)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday met with the COAS at Corps Headquarters and said that the most important city of Karachi is one of the most mismanaged cities.
Rains have played havoc with the masses and business community and ports are not working properly to facilitate imports and exports, he said.
He said that officials and labourers were not able to come to ports which have dented the business community and increased cost of doing business.
Mian Zahid Hussain told COAS that Karachi is contributing Rs2600 billion to national exchequer while improvement can boost revenue to Rs 4000 billion.
The veteran business leader said rains have stopped activities across Karachi while the port has been closed as staff and laborers cannot come for their jobs which has blocked imports and exports. He noted exports are stuck since 12 days adding to cost of doing business which can also reverse the trend of increasing exports for the last few months.
He said that the value-added textile sector is suffering a lot as they were hopeful of betterment after some relaxation in virus-related lockdown in the west. The development can also reverse the steps by the government and central bank to boost the economy and increase exports while the agriculture sector has also faced problems due to torrential rains.
He said that NDMA has also disappointed people and the business community while the government must realize that national development is impossible unless infrastructure and logistics system of Karachi is improved. He said that heads of all the government institutions should be asked to resolve the issues of the city as they are duty-bound for it.
At the occasion, COAS said that issues of Karachi would be resolved and the Karachi would be transformed into a modern city within three years. He said that a committee comprising representatives of federal and provincial governments has been set up to resolve issues on a fast-track basis and that the business community will also get representation in the said committee.
