ISLAMABAD, Dec 29 (DNA) : Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati Tuesday vowed for strengthening regional economy by executing joint ventures with the Central Asian countries which would help in rooting out terrorism.

He said this during a meeting with the delegation of Uzbekistan led by Uzbek Minister for Transport Makhamov Ilkhom, First Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Kudratov Laziz, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sidiqov Furqat and Charge d`Affairs of Uzbekistan to Pakistan Tashmatov Sadulla.

The dignitaries highlighted the matters pertaining to mutual interest of the two countries and cargo train service during the meeting, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Railways.

The meeting also discussed Trans Afghan Rail Project that would connect Pakistan and Uzbekistan via Afghanistan and later the Central Asian countries could also join in the project.

It was pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan would also signed joint appeal in the name of World Bank for investing around $4.8 billion in rail link among Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

Presidents of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan had already signed the trilateral joint appeal to World Bank and the rail link would play its role for the progress and prosperity of these countries.

Under the trilateral joint venture, a 573 kilometers railway track would be laid with 27 railway stations, 912 different structures and seven tunnels on this track.

The shortest economic track would run from Peshawar to Kabul and from Kabul via Mazar Sharif to Uzbekistan.

DNA

KARACHI, DEC 29 – The Pakistan’s apex chamber has rejected the government’s move of raising energy cost up to 30% before the end of this calendar year to qualify for restoration of the stalled $6 billion IMF loan program, as it has just notified the power tariff increase of 18 paisas/unit on Monday (Dec 28) under this plan. 

FPCCI president Mian Anjum Nisar lamented that the government has decided to hike power tariff by around 30% or Rs3.30/unit before Dec 31, 2020 in phases, leading the economy towards point of no return due to interference of International Monetary Fund in the Pakistani economy.  

He said the authorities has started to implement this plan, as the Ministry of Energy has issued a notification to increase the power tariff from Rs13.35/unit to Rs13.53/unit which is applicable on consumers using more than 300 units and is effective from Dec 1, 2020. He stated the frequent raises in energy rates on behest of the IMF would make the Pakistani products uncompetitive in the international market. He said that industry is the main victim of this IMF interference, as donors’ involvement in the Pakistan’s economic matters and dictations to the policy makers for taking harsh measures would add to the economic miseries of the country. 

Mian Anjum Nisar said that Pakistan is the most frequent customer of IMF and governments often depended on borrowing from IMF and accepted stringent conditions despite the fact that this institution is merciless money lender which always forced Pakistan to adopt bad policies like rupee devaluation, massive increases in the electricity and gas prices. 

According to reports, the government has given go-ahead to the economic team to fulfill all the required prerequisites for revival of the stalled program under $6 billion Extended Fund Facility. The power tariff will be hiked in a gradual manner up to 30% in a bid to fulfill the IMF condition, which will destroy the local as well as export industry that is already facing high cost of production. The IMF program was stalled in Feb 2020 after the COVID-19 outbreak and the second review is now under completion. 

He said that the IMF wanted the government to get the Electric Power Act bill in the National Assembly passed, enabling the government to pass on its cost of inefficiency and theft to the power consumers through imposition of surcharges, which is totally unjust. 

The FPCCI President said that trade and industry is the backbone of the economy, which generates more than 90 percent of the government’s total resources. Therefore it can make a great contribution in turning Pakistan into one of the greatest nations in the world provided due facilitation and an enabling business atmosphere are ensured, he added. 

Mian Anjum Nisar said that despite challenges due to the coronavirus, Pakistan’s economic performance remained encouraging, as the current account balance, foreign exchange reserves and stock exchange have improved significantly. Inflation is projected to stay in the range of 7.8% to 8.3% this month. 

“All these positive indicators might take the reverse gear if the authorities take decision to hike the power tariff on IMF dictation,” he warned. 

“How a country can take independent decisions and grow its economy when it is carrying the burden of billions of dollars debs and utilizing huge part of the federal budget for debt servicing”, he questioned. 

He said that Pakistan would be loser in many heads if immediate measures are not taken to get rid of the massive loans which are the mother of most of the economic ills. He said that though it is a tough but not impossible task. 

He said that business community understands well that there is no overnight solution of the economic problems but there is a dire need to set directions and to introduce economic reforms to get rid of dependence on foreign loans. 

He said the biggest question is how to keep the momentum of growth in the wake of a less than targeted growth of the Agriculture and the Manufacturing sectors. The second one is the widening gap between exports and imports that could be contained by enhancing exports. 

The apex chamber chief also stressed the need for developing regional, product specific and target oriented marketing strategy. New markets and new products need to be explored to reduce country’s dependence on few commodities and countries. Pakistan’s exports are highly concentrated in few items. Such concentration in few markets can also become a source for instability in export earnings.

DNA

BEIJING, DEC 29 – As a bridge of communication and an important carrier to shape cognition, Pakistan, China media has unshakable responsibility and can play a very important role to consolidate their all-weather friendship.

This was stated by Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science, according to Gwadar Pro.

As for how to give full play to the role of the media, he suggested
first, we should promote media communication through civilization.

From a long-term perspective and strategic level, the media of China and Pakistan should promote exchanges and mutual learning between the two nations with a high degree of cultural self-confidence, build a bridge between the two civilizations, enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples, inject new vitality into the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, and jointly make a strong voice of Oriental civilization.

Second, we should promote the establishment of close relations between the two peoples through media communication. The Media plays an irreplaceable role in spreading ideas, enhancing understanding and gathering consensus.

In recent years, China Economic Net has published a large number of key reports, which vividly reflect all aspects of Pakistan’s economic and social development, creating a safe, stable and progressive image of Pakistan. Therefore, the Chinese people have got a correct and comprehensive understanding of Pakistan.

Third, we should jointly voice Oriental civilization. The Belt and Road initiative is an important starting point for building a community of shared future for mankind.

In this sense, the media of China and Pakistan are now engaged in a very great cause. We should understand the media’s social responsibility from this height.

” Let’s join hands to tell good Chinese stories, good Pakistani stories and good CPEC stories, be the disseminators, shapers and contributors of the CPEC, and be the witnesses, recorders and writers of the journey of building a community of shared future for mankind,” he remarked.

He added, the 6th China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Media Forum was very successfully held.

The forum was hosted by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Pakistan and organized jointly by China Economic Net and Pakistan-China Institute.

In the six years since its establishment, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Media Forum has become the most influential exchange activity between the media of China and Pakistan, the two time-honored Oriental nations.

The 6th China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Media Forum was themed “Post-pandemic China-Pakistan Media Cooperation” and conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the opportunities for digital media, media as an engine for the high-quality development of CPEC and China-Pakistan media cooperation.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not only an economic corridor of mutual benefit and win-win sharing, but also a cultural corridor of people’s mutual affinity and telepathy.

At a time when the construction of CPEC has attracted much public attention and achieved great progress, the exchanges between the two peoples should also be steadily deepened, so as to provide strong support for smooth sailing of the giant ship of bilateral cooperation.

DNA

ISLAMABAD, DEC 29 – Fatima Azim, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that Union Council Humak has issued professional tax notices of Rs.50,000 each to some industries in Kahuta Industrial Triangle, Islamabad which has created lot of concerns in the business community and called for their urgent withdrawal to save businesses from unnecessary tax burdens. She said that due to Covid-19 pandemic, business activities were already suffering badly and in such conditions, imposing professional tax on the businesses will create additional difficulties for the economy, therefore, she demanded immediate withdrawal of professional tax notices to save the economy from more problems.

Fatma Azim said the current situation demanded that the government should focus on providing tax relief to the business community instead of imposing new taxes on them so that business activities could be revived and the economy could improve. She said that to combat the impact of coronavirus, governments around the world had provided various relief packages to the businesses, but in Pakistan, instead of announcing relief measures, new taxes were being imposed on the businesses that will increase their problems and discourage new investment in the country. She stressed that instead of levying new taxes on businesses, the government should provide them relief in taxes.

Abdul Rehman Khan, Vice President, ICCI said that the FBR has started to withdraw cash from the bank accounts of business community under Section 140 of the Income Tax Ordinance without consent of concerned taxpayers, which was a matter of great concern for them. He said that there was a method of inquiry in the law, but giving notices to taxpayers after withdrawal of cash from their bank accounts was unjustified. He demanded that the FBR should immediately stop this practice to save the businesses from unnecessary problems as it would neither increase the tax net nor meet the tax targets.

Abdul Rehman Khan said that the former FBR Chairman Shabar Zaidi had stopped raids on businesses and withdrawal of cash from their bank accounts to save them from unnecessary troubles. However, the FBR has again resumed this unhealthy practice, which was creating harassment in the business community. He said that once cash was withdrawn from one’s bank account, it was very difficult to get it back even if the decision was given in favour of the concerned taxpayer. He said that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the relevant area should be consulted before taking any such action against any business so that such issues could be resolved through mutual efforts. He appealed to the Federal Minister for Finance Hafeez Sheikh to instruct FBR to immediately stop withdrawing cash from the bank accounts of the business community so that they could focus on promoting business activities with confidence which would help in reviving the economy of the country as well.