Pakistan is confronted with an acute energy crisis which is taking a heavy toll on economy. Granting Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to India could create difficulties for Pakistan’s trembling economy. President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Islamabad, Yassar Sakhi Butt said in a statement that there is a dire need to provide business friendly environment to our local industries by ensuring uninterrupted supply of electricity and gas. Otherwise, our domestic industry can not compete with Indian cost effective products.
He said that before giving MFN status to India, the government should have make sure that at least our industry is running in full swing so that we are in a position to take the benefit of a big Indian market. It is however, surprising that no chamber and association have highlighted this issue. President ICCI said that pharmaceutical industry would definitely suffer which is one of the fastest growing industries in Pakistan and has shown growth of 17 per cent in the last 5 years despite the deplorable economic conditions. He said government should also take notice of the fact that Pakistan could not take any advantage of the MFN status given to it by India some 15 years back.
