KARACHI -President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said unemployment has become a serious problem which is to hurt society very badly.
The ever-increasing unemployment, if not controlled through immediate intervention, will have devastating effects on the country, he warned.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that business ventures dealing in production and services are facing reduced demand therefore large number of workers are being laid off to avoid bankruptcy which has created problem for millions of people.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that increasing unemployment is damaging the society while the buying power of masses has compromised substantially which has also damaged economic activities.
The former minister noted that unemployment in educated people is three times higher than the uneducated while disappointment among the business community has not only stopped investment but also damaged employment.
He said that the cement sector showed good performance during the last five years but now it is on the brink, the auto sector is struggling for survival which has prompted the foreign investors to rethink plans about investment in Pakistan, the profit of the engineering sector is down by 61 percent, while the steel and chemical sector is also suffering.
The profit of companies producing electronic appliances has receded by 42 percent while many other sectors are on the brink.
The government cannot create employment opportunities as compared to the industrial sector which must be allowed to operate, he demanded.
