Progress impossible without facilitating business community: Bilawal

KARACHI, Aug 05 (DNA): Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that progress of the
country is impossible without facilitating the business community, as
the journey of economic stability cannot be established without the
promotion of trade.

He pointed out that during the President Asif Ali Zardari’s tenure, no
economic policy was formulated without consulting the business
community.

According to the press release issued by Media Cell Bilawal House,
Chairman PPP, while addressing an event of unveiling foundation stone of
FPCCI Tower and annexe at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce & Industry House here on Saturday, said that effective economic
diplomacy can contribute to sustained economic growth, stabilize self
sustaining growth trajectory, and expand commerce. He said that the
global economic landscape is constantly evolving.

“I have always advocated that businessmen and women possess unique
qualities that make them effective ambassadors in certain contexts.Their
expertise in international trade, commerce and business enables them to
bridge gaps between nations and foster economic cooperation,” he added.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he believes that business
people can find their own ways to connect with each other and form
strong economic partnerships, promoting cross border investments which
can sustain geopolitical shocks, adding that as the Foreign Minister,
during his overseas visits, he made efforts to protect and promote
entrepreneurs business and their integration into global value chain.
“In Iraq, we signed an MoU between the FPCCI and its Iraqi counterpart
and established the Business Council. You should all benefit from these
arrangements,” he added.

Foreign Minister said that he was happy to note that the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is making its utmost efforts to facilitate the
businesses and resolve their concerns, adding that to address delays in
attestations of documents, businessmen have now been allocated exclusive
time slots at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at our Camp offices.
“I’m confident that our collective efforts would help us realize the
dream of transforming Pakistan into an economic powerhouse,” he hoped.

Appreciating the Public Private Partnership formula introduced in Sindh
province, the PPP Chairman said that the projects under PPP-mode have
resulted in improvement in education, health and infrastructure sectors.
He said that enhancing governance and transparency has been the pursuit
of the public private partnership model in Sindh, and the PPP
government’s efforts within the domain of public private partnership has
been internationally recognized, adding that the Economist magazine
ranked Sindh’s PPP mode projects as sixth in its list of the best
ongoing projects in Asia.

Addressing the business community, he said that there’s a lot more that
we can achieve together if the government partners with the private
sector. “Even to solve the problems of a big city like Karachi, we have
to work together,” he added.

Chairman PPP said that the “out-of-the-box solutions” will have to be
found to solve the problems faced by the country and the people. He said
that Pakistan is a country rich in minerals and natural resources, while
geographically it is also a very important country. Referring to former
President Asif Ali Zardari’s tenure, he said that President Zardari did
not make any economic policy without consulting the business community.
He said that the promotion of trade and the strengthening of the economy
are among the top priorities of the PPP.