By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, on Friday, urged Capital Development Authority (CDA) to focus on its better development to facilitate the growth of trade activities. The President ICCI said that Blue Area is the largest commercial centre of Islamabad, which plays an important role in the development of the economy.
He said that parking is the most serious issue of the Blue Area, so parking should be allowed on the green area of Fazal Haq Road until the construction of a parking plaza. He said this while addressing a delegation of the Traders Welfare Association, Blue Area, Islamabad that visited ICCI led by its President Raja Hasan Akhtar and highlighted the key issues faced by the traders.
Ahsan Bakhtawari further said that ICCI intends to organize a mega shopping festival in the Blue Area in collaboration with Association so that trade activities can flourish and customers can also get a chance of shopping at reasonable rates. Raja Hassan Akhtar, President Blue Area Traders Welfare Association highlighted the important issues of traders of his market.
He said that the non-availability of parking, the old sewage system and non-functional street lights are the main issues of the Blue Area, so CDA should solve them on an urgent basis. He stressed a flower market in Blue Area besides pruning trees and said that CDA should take steps in this regard. He assured President ICCI of full support from the traders of Blue Area and said that the respect given to the traders of Blue Area during his tenure was probably never given in the history of the Chamber.
He said that during Ahsan Bakhtawari’s tenure, the problems of traders are being solved and the remaining ones are expected to be solved soon. Khalid Iqbal Malik, Group Leader ICCI, said that the Blue Area Association is very important in trade politics as its members are more than any market or industrial area association.
He said that ICCI has always given importance to the traders of the Blue Area, and during his tenure as President of ICCI, the traders of the Blue Area were also given a red-carpet reception. He assured that ICCI will play an active role in solving the issues of the traders of Blue Area.
Yousuf Rajput, Group Leader, Blue Area, said that the traders of his market are standing like a strong wall with Ahsan Bakhtavari and will continue to cooperate with ICCI to solve the problems of the traders.
On this occasion, Mian Basharat Kakakhel, Secretary General of Blue Area Association, announced joining the Founder Group. He demanded from the CDA to establish a food street in the Blue Area, which is the need of the hour for the traders and citizens.
President Jinnah Supermarket Asad Aziz said that the traders of the Supermarket, Jinnah Supermarket and Blue Area are standing with ICCI as a unit.
Amin Pirzada, Raja Humayun Sarwar, Atiq ur Rehman, Shafqat Gondal, Riaz Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Tehmas Butt, Yusuf Khan, Chaudhry Wasim, Sheikh Kaleem, Raja Hamid, Adil Barkat, Chaudhry Imran, Naseer Abbasi, Imran Khan, Azhar Khan, Yusuf Balti and others also spoke on this occasion.
