October 14, 2001	Sunday	Rajab 26, 1422

LAHORE, Oct 13: A high-level advisory council has been established in revenue division of the finance ministry to give due representation to the private sector.

The council will also provide an opportunity to the business community of direct interaction with policy-makers in the country, official sources told APP.

Sources said that the council, formed on the directive of President Pervez Musharraf, will help strengthen the private sector and take business community in confidence in framing future policies to boost exports and industrial production.

The council will also address problems confronted by tax payers for the private sector, and help solve their issues.

All members of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) will be ex-officio members of the council. This would remove apprehensions in the private sector and restore confidence, which is essential for economic development.

The finance minister will head the council and in his absence, meetings will be convened by secretary, revenue division/chairman CBR.

The first meeting to be held soon in the federal capital will deliberate on the role, functions and working procedure of the council in areas related to tax policy, SROs, standing orders and specific cases within the context of complications being faced by tax payers.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Iftikhar Ali Malik, who has been nominated along with 13 other businessmen in the council, has hailed the formation of the council with the hope that it would help promote understanding and coordination between business circles and the policy makers.

The council will provide the much needed forum for the business community to express their view points in vital issues concerning industrial growth, he observed.—APP