PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announce a special fiscal relief package for small traders affected by the coronavirus lock-down.
“Small businesses should be incentivised as the Covid-19 has badly affected them,” stresses Sherbaz Bilour, the president of SCCI after meeting with Senior Member Board of Revenue, Syed Zafar Ali Shah. Bilour strongly opposed the imposition of restrictions, asking the KP government to allow businesses around the clock under strict SOPs [standard operating procedures]. He said the business and trade activities have been slowed down since outbreak of the coronavirus.
The SCCI chief called for waiving off utilities bills of Covid-19 hit traders as well as concession in rents of district government and Auqaf properties for next six months. He also demanded the provision of interest free loans to mitigate financial owes of the traders community. Drawing attention of the provincial government toward promotion of regional trade, Bilour urged for pragmatic steps for removing hurdles to smooth regional trade.
Expressing serious concern over the “unwarranted and unlawful” crackdowns on factories, the SCCI chief said that such “illegal” actions should be stopped immediately. He also expressed resentment over lack of proper representation of SCCI in provincial industrial policy 2021 and boards of relevant provincial government departments.
Highlighting important of regional trade, Bilour that during recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Uzbekistan, the chamber had signed MoUs with Uzbekistan Chamber and Surkhandarya Chamber, which he termed as a “milestone” step toward promotion of regional trade.
Syed Zafar Ali Shah while responding to different queries and apprehensions of the business community said that the KP government is taking serious steps to resolve issues of taxpayers. Shah went on to say that flourishing of businesses and industries are essential for economic growth. However, the senior official said that the implementation of Covid-19 rules, safety steps and meeting vaccination targets was paramount important to ensure early reactivation of businesses and trade activities.