PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has rejected the increase in prices of natural gas and electricity and urged the government to withdraw its decision and exempt the business community of Peshawar from all kinds of taxes and take immediate steps for increasing trade volume with neighbouring states to improve local economy.
Speaking at a press conference at SCCI here on Thursday, the chamber’s president Faiz Mohammad said that the business community was already facing multiple problems, mainly due to the prolonged terrorism. He said that the government had repeatedly increased the prices of natural gas, power and petroleum products which would bring business activities to a standstill in the provincial metropolis.
“The business community will go bankrupt if the government does not exempt it from different taxes at least for three years,” the SCCI chief feared and said that most of the industrial units had already become non-functional.
Faiz Mohammad said that the country’s trade volume with Afghanistan, Iran and China was very small which needed to be improved by efficiently utilising the trade potentials of these countries. He urged the government to sign trade agreements with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries, and resolve the core issues relating to tax refunds and rebate issues of exporters on priority.
He said that the Peshawar-based business community further suffered due to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) because the government had promised to compensate the affected people and complete the project within six months, but none of the commitments was fulfilled.
Trade activities in the shopping centres located close to BRT project, he said, were affected and the presence of heavy machinery and construction material had blocked access of both shopkeepers and customers to the markets. He said that industrialists also faced problems while visiting the industrial estates at Hayatabad and Kohat Road due to traffic blockades.
“We urge the provincial government to exempt the BRT-affected industrialists and traders from property tax, professional tax and other levies at least for next three years,” the SCCI chief said.
Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2018
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