KARACHI – President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday expressed concern over terror incidents and rising political temperature in the country.
Political confrontation between government and opposition is not good for the struggling economy, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that Rs200 hike in support price of wheat is a good move which will provide relief to farmers, increase production and end artificial crisis to reduce the price of flour.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of National Business Group (NBG) he said that the government should also consider steps to discourage sub-standard seed, fake pesticides and ensure affordable urea to ensure food security.
Inflation and crisis have troubled masses and exchange rate uncertainty has raised concerns among the exporters, he said.
He noted that one of the major victim of coronavirus remains the education system which is not getting proper attention of the government.
At the occasion, leaders of the NBG Alauddin Marri, Saqib Fayyaz Magoon, Ch Muhammad Hussain Zahid, Col (Redt) Tauqirul Islam, and Shahid Leghari said that the agriculture sector should be promoted while water scarcity should be tackled immediately.
Import of wheat and sugar should be expedited to provide relief to the masses reeling under inflation, they demanded.
The leaders of NBG said that overseas Pakistanis should get more relaxations so that they can play a more important role in national development.
The education sector was in a shamble before the pandemic and now the situation has worsened as almost half of the children are not going to schools.
According to the World Bank estimates, this will hit GDP by 67 to 155 billion dollars over the next two decades, they warned.
Amid pandemic the government and private sector tried distant education through the internet but the focus of private schools remained on minting money.
The number of enrolled students must be increased by waiving off fees or providing cash support to poor parents otherwise, the country will suffer a lot, they warned.
