President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday has called upon the private sector to take full advantage of the level-playing field provided by the PPP-led coalition government through financial and structural reforms.
During an awards distribution ceremony for top-ranking companies and business entities in the year 2008 and 2009 held at he Presidency, Zardari said the success of winning corporations highlighted the opportunities Pakistan offered for business and investment. He said Pakistan was lagging behind in the manufacturing sector and its share in the global exports was not what it should be. “The private sector needs to play a greater role in enhancing manufacturing capacity to serve regional and global markets,” he emphasised.
The president said stock exchanges also needed to extend their outreach in the country, which would increase awareness about the capital market and attract increased equity for investment.
Praising the role played by the Karachi Stock Exchange in developing the country’s capital market, the president said the awards were also part of the positive role played by the Karachi Stock Exchange.
Zardari said the coalition government inherited several economic problems including the global economic recession, circular debt, the fight against militancy and floods, which hit the economy hard.
“According to the damage and needs assessment, the overall damage caused by the floods was nearly 10 billion dollars. The government has embarked upon a comprehensive plan to address the economic challenges,” he said.
“This includes reduction in non-development expenditure to cut expenses, reforms in the power sector, restructuring of public sector enterprises, incentives to attract remittances and special programmes for poverty alleviation,” Zardari said. “The government reduced the cabinet size in order to cut expenses. The subsidy regime has been rationalised. Tax reforms have been introduced to mobilise resources and the tax net is being expanded through the introduction of the reformed general sales tax,” he said. “We are not afraid of taking tough decisions. Our main objectives are to alleviate poverty and to create more job opportunities,” the president added.
He said Pakistan had developed a home-grown programme for poverty alleviation under the Benazir Income Support Programme, which has been acknowledged and appreciated worldwide. Zardari said the government had adopted a model of public-private partnership for economic development, adding that the government was committed to growth. He said the government believed in developing all policies through a national consensus and called upon the business community to develop a national consensus over all major economic issues. The president praised the initiatives taken by the Pakistan Business Forum and wished it success in building national consensus. He also urged the corporate sector to focus on workers’ education and training to enhance productivity.