Tag: business community

  • Massive growth: 50,000 closed power looms now operational

    Massive growth: 50,000 closed power looms now operational

    Faisalabad is witnessing an upward trend in the textile sector because 50,000 closed power looms have been turned operational.

    As per the details, experts have forecasted that another 30,000 looms will be installed as the textile industry witnesses massive economic growth following the high demand for export times.

    The recently-announced incentive of electricity supply for the industrial sector at subsidised prices by the government has also played a vital role in this development.

    On Thursday, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan shared a television news report on Twitter regarding the revival of the textile industry.

    The report highlighted the rise in economic activity in Faisalabad and the shortage of 0.2 million labourers that are required to meet the high demand of orders in the sector.

    The textile sector had been adversely affected by the power crisis and neglect of the previous governments. However, due to the incumbent government’s effective smart lockdown policies during the coronavirus pandemic, numerous countries have diverted their orders to Pakistan’s textile sector.

    According to the news report, the textile industry in Faisalabad has 1.3 million workers with 1 million native workers. In its recent report titled “Opening Early helped Pakistan Boost Exports during the Pandemic”, Bloomberg also underlined a major surge in Pakistan’s textile exports.”

    Bloomberg’s report also quoted Shahid Sattar, the Secretary-General of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, as saying, “Pakistan has seen orders shifting from multiple nations including China, India, and Bangladesh”.

    He added, “Garment manufacturers are operating near-maximum capacity and many can’t take any orders for the next six months”.

    The report also mentioned that the outbound textile shipments of Pakistan grew at a faster pace than those of Bangladesh and India, and accounted for half of the total export. Islamabad saw total shipments grow 7 per cent in September, compared with New Delhi’s 6 per cent and Dhaka’s 3.5 per cent, the report stated.

  • New survey reveals Pakistani businesses positive about future

    New survey reveals Pakistani businesses positive about future

    A new report has revealed that international investors are looking towards Pakistan for business opportunities and queries regarding this have increased to a great extent.

    Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), which provides commercial data globally in the form of ‘Business Optimism Index’ (BOI), presented the report which stated that the business community in the country is optimistic about their position.

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    In an official statement, D&B said: “We used to collect data of Pakistani companies located in Dubai, We had data of around 100,000 Pakistani companies but looking at the rising demand we [D&B] decided to launch our office in Pakistan.”

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    As per the report, large companies are relatively more optimistic than small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Similarly, companies in the services sector are more hopeful as compared to the trading and manufacturing sectors.

    D&B, initiated in the early 1900s, will publish a report quarterly, in a bid to measure the progress of the business community and serve as a tool to assess the position of the businesses in Pakistan.

    Read more – Naya Pakistan: Govt to set up 50,000 shops to sell daily-use items on subsidised rates

    The response from the business community reflects respondents’ position regarding the current business situation, and forecast business situation. Based on the results, respondents are more optimistic regarding the forecast business situation in comparison to the current business situation.

    Around 66% of the respondents expect business situation to be good in the upcoming quarter compared to 42% of respondents in the current quarter. However, 9% of the respondents expect their business situation to be poor in the upcoming quarter, compared to 16% in the current quarter which is a positive indicator for businesses.

  • ‘Salary not enough to pay for my expenses’ says PM Imran Khan

    ‘Salary not enough to pay for my expenses’ says PM Imran Khan

    Addressing the business community in Islamabad, Prime Minister Khan stated that the business community needs to pay taxes if the country is going to get out of the present economic crisis. He urged them to work with the government and help in collecting more taxes.

    He also said that people didn’t want to pay taxes because former rulers had looted the country and lost the trust of the people. “When leaders live lavishly on public expense, who will pay taxes?” he asked.

    Prime Minister House in Islamabad

    He said that he had slashed the expenses of the PM house by 40 percent and that he lived in his own home and paid his own expenses. “My salary is not enough to fulfil by own household expenses,” he said, adding that he did not start any business after becoming the Prime Minister and that the expenses of his foreign tours were 10 times less than previous rulers.

    PM Khan is leaving for Davos today where he will be speaking at the World Economic Forum.

  • Gen Bajwa met businessmen with my permission: Imran

    Gen Bajwa met businessmen with my permission: Imran

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa met business tycoons “with his permission”.

    Speaking to senior journalists and analysts in Islamabad on Wednesday, the premier acknowledged that inflation and unemployment remain a big problem that his government is trying to resolve.

    “Where there is no rule of law people gravitate towards power. The army chief asked for my permission to meet the businessmen and I saw no harm in it,” journalist Amber Rahim Shamsi quoted him as saying.

    Earlier this month, a delegation of at least 20 businessmen, comprising heads of Pakistan’s leading business houses, had met the army chief to convey their serious concerns about the country’s stagnating economy.

    Complaining to him of the government’s tepid response to the debilitating situation facing the drivers of the economy, they had said the government did not go beyond verbal assurances and that its words did not match its actions.

    As Wednesday’s meeting continued, PM Imran also categorically said that he will not resign under pressure. He made the statement in response to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s forthcoming ‘Azadi March’.

    Fazl, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief, has threatened to block Islamabad with his anti-government protest starting October 31. The march, which is expected to have hundreds of thousands of participants — mainly religious hardliners from the JUI-F — are expected to enter Islamabad on October 31.

  • Business tycoons complain of govt’s actions to Gen Bajwa

    Business tycoons complain of govt’s actions to Gen Bajwa

    Heads of Pakistan’s leading business houses have complained to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa of the government’s tepid response to the debilitating situation facing the drivers of the economy, The News reported.

    According to reports, the complaints came as businessmen on Wednesday night called on the COAS to convey their serious concerns about the country’s stagnating economy.

    Their main gripe was that the government does not go beyond verbal assurances and that its words do not match its action.

    The delegates did not keep their anger and frustration at the government’s attitude towards the economy from the COAS and conveyed to him that their business units were being shut down, leaving countless labourers unemployed.

    They also requested the army chief to do something, adding that if nothing was done on an emergency basis, the situation would deteriorate further.

    The report quoted sources as claiming that the army chief heard the grievances expressed by the 16 to 20-member delegation and assured it of his help, adding that he would try to do something for the resolution of their problems.

    As the meeting continued, Gen Bajwa floated the idea to form an internal committee comprising military officers to address the complaints of the country’s business community so that they could be resolved as soon as possible.

    He also advised the business tycoons that they should cooperate with the government and not side with anti-government forces.

  • Gen Bajwa to meet ‘concerned’ businessmen, discuss investment problems

    Gen Bajwa to meet ‘concerned’ businessmen, discuss investment problems

    A high-level delegation of Pakistani businessmen will call on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday to take the army chief into confidence over the problems being faced by the business community.

    In his television programme, anchorperson Kamran Khan said that the delegation will also brief the army chief about other problems being faced by the investors, which are hindering the influx of foreign investment into the country.

    The potential visit to the General Headquarters (GHQ) comes at a time when the Pakistani economy struggles despite an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and the government fails to generate enough revenue.

    Since June, the business community is openly expressing its reservations over gas and electricity prices and demanding from the government to charge them as per the rates in the international market.

    Earlier, the army chief was included in the National Development Council (NDC), formed by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government to accelerate economic growth and improve coordination among provinces and the federation.

    Subsequently, he had taken the top military brass into confidence over the “difficult but extremely essential measures” taken by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to bring the economy out of the woods.