PESHAWAR, March 2: Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Haji Mohammad Asif on Sunday opposed the running of a training institute Pak-German Wood Work Centre on commercial basis and said it would create problems for the local furniture manufacturers.

Addressing a function at the Furniture Business Development Centre he said a display centre and training institute opposite to Hayatabad had been approved and the construction work would be initiated soon.

The provincial government, he said, had approved loans at 9 per cent mark-up for the small and medium level businesspersons and Rs200 million had already been allocated for the purpose.Commenting on the proposed Jalozai Industrial Estate, Mr Asif said that the concerned officials of the provincial government would be requested to fix the price at not more than Rs8 million per acre.

He asked the manufacturers to apprise the SCCI of all the problems being faced by them, so that the issues could be discussed with the concerned government authorities.

SCCI Senior Vice President Inayat Khan, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) Provincial Chief Javaid Khattak, Furniture Manufacturers and Dealers Association President Syed Ejaz Ali Shah Bukhari, Sharafat Ali Mubarak, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, Jamshid Khan and other businesspersons were also present on the occasion.

Dealers Association President Syed Ejaz Ali Shah Bukhari spoke about the price of land at the Jalozai Industrial Estate, loans for the SME sector and demanded solution to other related problems being faced by the business community.