KARACHI: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman retired Lieutenant General Nazir Ahmed has assured the country’s top business leaders that the accountability watchdog would not harass the business community and they should openly play their role in the development of the country.

According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, the chairman said that he wanted to assure the business community that NAB would not harass them and they should be fully focused on “wealth creation activities and should do business without any fear”.

The assurance came in a series of meetings held between the NAB chief and leadership of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and others.

Prominent among those attended the meetings are Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, Arif Habib, Bashir Jan Muhammad, Habibullah, Atif Ikram Sheikh, Zubair Motiwala.

Assures that business community will be treated with utmost respect and dignity

They held significant discussions with him in addressing pressing economic challenges and propelling the nation towards growth.

They suggested a number of proposals to help steer the country out of the economic turmoil, it added.

He said that no businessman would be subjected to a media trial during the process of complaint verification and inquiry.

“Extreme importance would be given to wealth creation activities/ projects, which will be encouraged and protected from unwarranted pressures and intimidation,” he said, according to the press release.

It was agreed that the business community, being the very core of the economy, had to be given the respect and status that it deserved.

He said that NAB would deal with all businessmen with utmost respect and dignity and help them creating a business friendly environment.

He also announced that a Business Facilitation Cell would be established initially at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad for better coordination and facilitation of the business community.

He said that he believed in participative accountability. Therefore, general complaints against businessmen would be first referred to the facilitation cell for immediate resolution/rectification and necessary action as per law.

He further added that complaints written under fictitious names or anonymous would not be entertained by NAB henceforth.

During the course of an inquiry, businessmen would be addressed as respondents and their confidentiality would be ensured.

To bolster economic decision-making, Director General-NAB Karachi Javed Akbar Riaz assured them that all the pending cases against the business community would be completed expeditiously.

Earlier this week, the NAB chief had also met members of the Sindh bureaucracy and gave them similar assurances.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2024