KARACHI, March 18: Industrialists and businessmen have criticized the holding of a ?million march? by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on March 20, saying it will cause financial losses to the industries, besides affecting the daily activities of all segment of society. Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Khalid Firoz and SITE Association of Industry Chairman Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig in their statements issued here on Friday, said the march had been organized at a time when the Textile Asia 2005 (March 19-21) was being held at the Expo Centre and many foreign buyers were expected to participate in the event. ?Such activity will also delay the export shipment,? they added. They said that such rally at this juncture would send a negative signal to the world and damage government?s efforts to restore Pakistan?s image abroad. Mr Firoz said Karachi was the centre political agitation where rallies, strikes, processions and public meetings used to cripple economic activities rendering closure of industries.

He said such rallies would not be instrumental in reducing prices or creating employment, but they would rather lead to closure of business activities.

?Karachi suffers a loss of Rs1 billion in one day strike,? he said, urging the federal and provincial governments not to encourage such agitation and politics of protest in a city like Karachi.

Dr Baig said buyers and investors had started visiting Karachi and any such strike would send a wrong message to them.

?In the quota-free regime, timely delivery of export orders is one of the main requirements of the buyers. But such strike severely affects the functioning of industries and we will not be able to honour our export commitments,? he added.

The SITE chief requested the political parties to refrain from calling such strikes in Karachi and discuss and resolve political issues at appropriate forums or in the parliament.