(April 19-2023)
Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said tolerance and understanding are necessary for politics but some leading politicians have made it a war.
Some failed politicians are not ready to show any flexibility which is destroying the economy and the country, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that self-centred politicians have nothing to do with the problems of the masses and the integrity of the country and they are just interested in gaining power.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the whole burden of the economic downturn is being borne by the masses but politicians don’t care.
He said that GDP has come down to half percent but the self-righteous politicians have no interest in the economic improvement or the plight of those whose lives have become very difficult.
Some frustrated people cannot be allowed to play with the future of the country and its 22 million people for their petty interests, he added.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the country’s economy is constantly weakening and if the situation is not controlled it will destroy and there will be no use to cry over spilt milk.
The business leader said that the people and institutions involved in the current game should know that the country needs economic reforms without delay.
Privatization of failed government institutions, elimination of electricity and gas losses, import substitution and agricultural reforms are the needs of the hour and if these are not initiated, no one will be able to save the country from bankruptcy.
Mian Zahid Hussian said that apart from other institutions the honour of the judiciary is also at stake which has been involved in political disputes.
PTI chief Imran Khan should start negotiations with the government to be known and remembered as a peace-loving and prudent leader. He should ensure the implementation of Charter of Economy and Agriculture so that people could get a sigh of relief.
If he played a role in the economic reforms, his name will be written in golden letters in history.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that institutions should avoid going on the path of conflict. The nation will never forgive those who are indifferent to the problems of the people and are constantly dividing them, destroying the society, damaging society, undermining morality and writing the darkest chapter in the country’s history.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that there has never been continuity in important economic policies in Pakistan due to political manoeuvres. Interest rates, exchange rates, inflation and laws are changed so rapidly that investors are left confused and unable to make important decisions.
Many investors leave the country disappointed with such conditions, but no one is bothered by this loss. 11% decline in large-scale manufacturing and the closure of various industries is proof of this.
The situation in the country has been brought to such a level that only those are ready to invest who can withdraw their capital with profit in a maximum of three years because they have no idea when the fundamental policies will be changed.
