Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged the parliament, executive, judiciary, and business community to work in tandem to identify the problems faced by the country and resolve them with efficiency and commitment to bring about political and economic stability in the country.
Talking to the 54 Presidents of Chambers of Commerce and Industry from across the country, he said that all those voices should be discouraged who are predicting the derailment of the political and democratic process. Democracy in Pakistan should be strengthened with each passing day.
He said that Pakistan was facing a financial situation that made it necessary to hold general elections in agreement and consensus of all political parties and forces to elect a government that is fully representative and mandated to take difficult and critical decisions for the betterment of the country.
He said that agreement with IMF was an important decision that could help the country resolve its economic and financial difficulties.
President Alvi stresses for political stability
President Dr. Arif Alvi termed political stability in the country as the vital and basic element for bringing economic stability and he urged all political stakeholders to promptly begin negotiations and deliberations on fixing the date for holding general elections.
He said that most of the import bill comprised of petroleum products used for energy transportation and production. This cost could be considerably reduced by adopting a comprehensive water, energy, and gas conservation strategy.
The president emphasized to the business community to shift their industries to green energy, like wind and solar to reduce the import bill as well as to protect the environment.
He said that women’s chambers of commerce should provide leadership to female entrepreneurs and start-ups and assist them in procuring bank loans to start businesses. He said that unfortunately, banks had promised 100 percent disbursement of loans to all the females applying for it, but only 5 percent of the loans had been granted.
