The members of the American Business Council of Pakistan (ABC) recently met with Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a CEO roundtable meeting where they were assured that the Sindh government was taking concrete steps to formulate business-friendly policies, improve the law and order situation and undertake infrastructure development projects.
Members of the ABC, the largest single country investor group in Pakistan, meet quarterly at a CEO roundtable luncheon to candidly discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by their companies. With Karachi being the hub of financial and industrial activity in Pakistan, the members invited the Sindh finance minister to share his views on the overall performance of the province. At the meeting, the minister shared details of various infrastructures, energy, waste management and transport that were planned for the city.
Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) Chairman Tashfeen Khalid Niaz was also present in the meeting. Upon hearing the concerns expressed by members on the increasing cost of doing business in Sindh on account of various levies and taxes including the sales tax on services, the provincial minister and SRB chairman urged participants to share recommendations of how the provincial and federal revenue collectors could ease hardships on existing taxpayers and assured that ABC input would be sought prior to the formulation of provincial budget FY16-17.
“The provincial government needs to formulate long-term, strong, efficient and business-friendly policies and share the roadmap of its strategy to simplify the taxation structure and improve Karachi’s infrastructure which will encourage the business community to expand and invest further,” stated ABC President Nadeem Elahi.
The ABC members were of the view that while there had been some improvement in the city’s security in recent months, further progress was required to change overall investor perception. They also urged the Sindh government to prioritise development and infrastructure projects within Karachi as concrete progress on this front would lead to a drastic improvement in the overall business environment.
The ABC has 68 members – most of them represent Fortune 500 companies. They operate in various sectors – healthcare, financial services, information technology, chemicals and fertilisers, energy, FMCG, food and beverage, oil and others. The ABC members have cumulative revenues of US$ 3.73 billion. They contribute a sizable amount to the national exchequer every year as direct and indirect taxes – last year they contributed Rs 77 billion. The ABC members also employ over 34,000 people directly who support 140,000 dependents and indirectly employ nearly one million people with agents, distributors and contractors.