Former Chairman of Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), Former Vice President of FPCCI and Leader of United Business Group Muhammad Hanif Gohar visited Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). The proposal to shift the FPCCI head office from Karachi to Islamabad, which is on the agenda of the EC, GB meeting, has been termed as a serious conspiracy against the business community and the economy.
Muhammad Hanif Gohar said that Karachi is a hub of economic activities and a city giving 70% revenue. Most of the trade bodies are in Karachi. Despite having stock exchanges, SBP and all other banks having headquarters, ports for imports and exports in Karachi, such a proposal is a conspiracy to divert the most important platform of traders and industrialists from the country’s economic lifeline. Will also have a serious negative impact on the country’s economy. It is a decision of self-interest and convenience which is not permissible.
Hanif Gohar said that this institution has been working for the last 70 years. The ruling FPCCI’s incompetent group has not been able to provide any relief to the business community suffering from the economic crisis due to the lockdown for the last four months. He said that the present leadership of FPCCI had failed miserably in resolving the problems of traders with the federal agencies and now it was they who were conspiring to destroy the agencies.
Hanif Gohar said that the infrastructure of Karachi, the highest revenue earning city of the country, was in a state of disrepair. Industries are shutting down due to high business costs due to load shedding and expensive electricity. Lockdown has put traders and industrialists in financial trouble. Hanif Gohar also rejected the proposal of the President of FPCCI for a two-year term, saying that such a move would harm the democratic tradition in FPCCI. He said that if the term of the president of the federation was extended from one year to two years, UBG would put up strong resistance.
FPCCI officials should try to solve the problems of the business community and at such a time come to the front and rehabilitate the infrastructure of Karachi city and do their best to solve the problems of traders and industrialists but instead they He suggested relocating the largest platform of traders from Karachi to Islamabad which is a clear proof of their business enmity. Hanif Gohar said that the administration of FPCCI should remove the relocation of the headquarters of the federation to Islamabad from the agenda immediately and issue an election schedule as soon as possible under the rules of the trade organization. Decisions to the contrary will be strongly resisted.
