By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday called upon the business community to explore new opportunities, adopt innovative and creative business techniques, utilize e-commerce platforms, and consolidate their position in the existing market by maintaining quality and competitiveness as compared to their competitors.
He said Pakistan needed to take all possible measures to create a balance between its imports and exports. The president expressed these views while addressing the 45th Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Exports Awards Ceremony here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
He further said Pakistan had improved its position in Ease of Doing Business Index significantly during the last few years.
He urged the business community to fully benefit from the incentives offered by the government for the promotion of business, trade and commerce in the country.
He added that Pakistan offered huge attractions for foreign direct investment. The president said the business community should utilize the youth bulge of Pakistan for producing high-end products for domestic consumption as well as for exports.
He said dams were important for water storage but solar energy was an easy way to overcome the energy crisis. He underscored the need for adopting technologies and vertical farming in the agriculture sector.
The president said Pakistan’s economy was facing a difficult time and had been affected by the recent global warming-induced floods, resulting in enormous loss of lives and damage to the country’s infrastructure.
He said Pakistan had incurred a huge loss of billions of dollars and expressed the hope that the nation with its proven courage, determination and resilience would overcome the challenge, and emerge better and stronger. Pakistan had come out of the Covid-19 crisis with its wise policies, similarly, it would also overcome the present crisis, he added.
He urged the business community to help their flood-affected brethren with open hearts. The president said trained and skilled human resources could help introduce innovation, diversification and competitiveness in their business processes, besides helping create an identity for Pakistani brands. He also called upon the business community to promote the made-in-Pakistan culture to reduce reliance on imports from other countries.
“By creating our own brands and improving their quality and standards, we can capture local markets through local products, which will help in import substitution thus saving precious foreign exchange.”
He called upon the business community to employ more women in their businesses as no country could embark on the path of development without employing 50 percent of its population.
The president also congratulated the winners of the awards and said the honour, which had been bestowed on them, would further encourage and motivate other businessmen, traders and investors, to improve their skills and work hard to win the coveted award next time.
He also congratulated the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Export Awards Ceremony for organizing such an excellent event.
FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said despite the challenges, Pakistan’s exports had reached 34. 7 billion dollars. He also said the business community was making all possible efforts for the rehabilitation of flood-affected people.
Anjum Nisar and Senator Haji Ghulam Ali also spoke on the occasion. They emphasized that exporters and the business community should especially focus on trade with unexplored African and Central Asian markets because of their closer proximity to Pakistan by offering high-quality services.
