PESHAWAR: Following intervention by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the industrialists here avoided observing a strike against the Federal Board of Revenue on Wednesday and a joint committee was announced to resolve differences between them and FBR created after raids on factories.

The Industrialists Association of Hayatabad Industrial Estate had announced to observe strike on Wednesday against FBR for conducting raids on different industrial units and taking away the official record, but the call was withdrawn on the assurance of provincial government to take up the issue with the federal government.

A team of the provincial government led by Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, adviser to the chief minister on information, visited the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and expressed solidarity with the business community against all kinds of unlawful acts on the part of different departments.

Mr Ghani said that the provincial government had already announced a policy to develop industries and solve problems of the business community. He said that the country’s affairs were run through taxes collected from the nation, especially from industrialists, and no one had the right to misuse official powers.

On this occasion, a committee was formed to take up the issue with the federal government so that no one could create hurdles to industrialisation in the province in future. The committee members include Senators Nauman Wazir and Mohsin Aziz, provincial finance minister Muzaffar Said, CM’s adviser on industries Abdul Karim, KP Economic Zones chairman Ghulam Dastgir, Industrialists Association Hayatabad Industrial Estate president Ghazanfar Bilour, SCCI former president Malik Niaz and Mohsin Syed.

Mr Ghani termed the raids on industrial units a conspiracy to scare investors from coming to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He assured the business community of cooperation on part of the provincial government. He said that the issue would also be discussed with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

The industrialists urged the provincial government to take firm stand against what they called the illegal steps of FBR.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2017