ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted a 22-member Council of Business Leaders (CBL), inducting prominent businessmen to ensure the availability of best professional advice to the government for resolving trade-related issues.

The CBL will be headed by the prime minister himself to ensure implementation of decisions especially those required for the promotion of exports and resolve the current account deficit issues at the earliest.

The Commerce Division will work as secretariat for the CBL. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Razak Dawood, will be the president of the CBL, whereas secretary commerce will act as the council’s secretary, according to the notification issued on Thursday.

The Council is constituted on the pattern of Federal Export Promotion Board which was also headed by prime minister and was empowered to resolve inter-ministerial issues related to export promotion at earliest.

According to the terms-of-reference, the Council will ensure that Pakistan’s business leaders, as representatives of the nation’s business community, have access to a structured forum to provide feedback on the government’s business, economic, investment, tariff and taxation policies.

Members of the CBL are Muhammad Ali Tabba, Lucky Cement Limited; Bashir Ali Muhammad, Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Ltd; Shahid Soorty, Soorty Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd; Musadiq Zulqarnain, Interloop Holding (Pvt) Ltd; Seema Aziz, Bareeze; Azam Farooque, Cherat Cement Company, KP; Shahid Abdullah, Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd; Khawar Anwar Khawaja, GOC (Pak) Ltd; Baber Badat, Transfreight Corporation (Pvt) Ltd; Naz Khan, X-Petroleum (Ltd); Abrar Hassan, National Food Private Ltd; Saqib Shirazi, Atlas Honda Ltd; Shahid Hussain, Service Sales Corporation (Pvt) Ltd; Usman Khalid Waheed, Ferozesons Laboratories Limited; Samina Rizwan, Oracle Corporation; Almas Haider, Synthetic Products Enterprises Ltd (SPEL); Afaq A. Tiwana, Agrimall Pvt Ltd; Asif Peer, Visionet Systems and Systems Limited; Zarak Khan, Peshawar Particleboard Industries (Pvt) Ltd; Abdul Rauf, Farooq Ghee and Oil Mills Pvt Ltd.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2018