There is no denying that the business community of Pakistan has been facing unprecedeted problems in the wake of economic crisis in the country and their business activities are badly affected by the electricity and gas issues.

The Sindh traders and businessmen are also faced with same situation.  In a bid to know about the issues of the business community, the Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wanted to meet them and discuss their problems with the business community of Karachi.  As we know that the People's Business Forum, has deep connections with the business community and its office bearers have been raising their problems in the federal government, the National Assembly and the standing committees.

In this regard, Provincial Minister for Planning and Energy Nasir Hussain Shah and the People’s Business Forum organized a detailed meeting of the heads of more than 500 leading companies of Pakistan with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari over lunch at Bilawal House Karachi, in which representatives of FPCCI, Karachi Chamber, APTMA, ABAD, KATI, SITE Association, Overseas Chambers, Pakistan Business Council, associations and chambers representing Pakistan’s industry and commerce participated in large numbers, while on behalf of the Sindh government, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, all the ministers and advisors of his cabinet, and Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab also participated. The main focul person behind arranging this meeting of the PBF with Bilawal has been the PBF chiarman Mirza Ikhtiar Beg.  

Provincial Ministers Sharjeel Memon and Saeed Ghani fully supported the event and with the hard work day and night, for the first time, not only did the owners of all the big business houses participate in the event, but apart from them, Arif Habib, Aqeel Karim Dhedi, Fawad Anwar, Atif Ikram Sheikh, Zubair Motiwala and Javed Balwani informed Bilawal Bhutto about the problems of the business community in their speeches, including issues like water, sewage, load shedding of electricity and gas in industries and illegal occupation of plots in Karachi. Addressing the event that lasted for more than 3 hours, Bilawal Bhutto told the traders and industrialists that we should have held this meeting long ago, but I promise that in the future such meetings with the business community will be held on a continuous basis so that the problems of the traders can be resolved immediately. While explaining the performance of the PPP, he mentioned the successful and profitable projects of Public Private Partnership in Sindh province which have been appreciated at the global level, among which the energy and infrastructure projects of Thar Coal are noteworthy, which are running in profit after receiving their investment. 

He invited businessmen to invest in profitable projects of Public Private Partnership in Sindh in green energy, solid waste management, infrastructure and power sector so that people can be provided with job opportunities. While mentioning the water supply in Karachi, he referred to the 1991 Water Agreement under which Sindh never got its full share of water, the decision of the federation to divert 6 canals from the Indus River will severely affect the water supply to Karachi. He said that gas is our constitutional right because it originates from Sindh province and we demand that gas be provided to Sindh industries on priority basis. He said that if people harass you in the name of us or the Sindh government, then you should openly tell us their names. Bilawal Bhutto directed the Sindh Anti-Encroachment Force and Sindh Police chiefs on the spot to take immediate action to vacate illegal occupations and encroachments.  Referring to the past situation, he said that before 2008, Karachi traders were troubled by extortion and forced donations and doing business in the city was equivalent to putting their lives in danger, but today no extortion is demanded from traders. 

To resolve the problems of the business community and remove obstacles to business immediately, Bilawal Bhutto announced the Business Facilitation Coordination Committee (BFC) under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, which includes the Minister for Industries and Commerce, Energy, Local Government, Interior, Agriculture, Advisor on Investment, Chief Secretary Sindh, Chairman P&D, while from the private sector, apart from  Mirza Ikhtiar Beg as the President of People’s Business Forum, the Chairman PBC, APTMA, FPCCI, Karachi Chamber, Abad, Arif Habib, Zubair Motiwala, Zubair Chhaya, SITE and Korangi Association. One is happy that considering the importance of this committee, the Chief Minister Sindh not only issued its notification immediately but also held the first meeting of the committee on February 3 at the Chief Minister’s House. In the meeting of the business community, Mirza Ikhtiar Beg said in his speech that I am your representative in the National Assembly and am getting the problems of the business community resolved on a regular basis in the House and the Standing Committees. Recently, the FBR has proposed strict amendments to the tax laws for purchasing property, on which negotiations have been ongoing for the past one week with representatives of the business community, Abad Chairman Hassan Bakshi, Arif Habib, Chairman FBR Rashid Mahmood Langrial and their team so that these amendments do not have any negative impact on the country’s economy.  In the businessmen’s meeting, Arif Habib and Hassan Bakshi mentioned  PBF efforts and cooperation in their speeches. One hopes that in the presence of the new Business Facilitation Committee (BFC), the problems of the business community will be resolved on a priority basis.  On the occasion, PBF Chairman Mirza Ikhtiar Beg requested the business community to start a new chapter together with the Sindh government so that we can put our province and the city of Karachi on the path of development.

It may be mentioned here that Karachi is the country's financial hub and it provides around seventy per cent revenue to the national exchequer. As such, the issues of this city must be resolved on pririty basis to enable the business commuity to continue with the businesses.