KARACHI, Oct 25: President Asif Ali Zardari has said the government will do all in its means to facilitate growth of businesses in the country. He acknowledged that the cost of doing business in Pakistan is prohibitively high and there is a need to review utility charges to make the activity viable.

The president assured high-powered businessmen delegation this week his full support for their just demands, former chairman Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (Kati) Gulzar Firoze said in a statement.

He said that the president was very hopeful that Pakistan would come out from the present economic crisis. He added that his visit to China was most successful and he had succeeded in getting huge Chinese investments in different projects as well as he got “blank cheque” from the Chinese government for financial help.

Mr Gulzar said President Zardari mentioned about the wrong planning of the previous government and the misuse of the remittances of millions of dollars and said that if proper utilisation had been made the country would not have faced the present crises.

He urged the president to focus on reducing the trade deficit. He said that the funds to be received from the IMF, World Bank, ADB or any other financial institution as loans will not solve our basic problems. The government should make efforts in reducing imports by banning or imposing heavy duty on import of luxury items and increase exports.

The delegation included S.M. Muneer, Khalid Tawab, Abdul Haseeb Khan, Captain A Moiz Khan, Mian Pervez Akhtar, Shaikh Fazl-e-Jalil, Mian Arshad Farooq, Mian Zahid Hussain, Majyd Aziz, Noor Ahmed, Mehtabuddin Chawla and Haji Masood Parekh.