Annual Report

& order situation. Prof. Ahsan Iqbal said that China-
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project would change
the destiny of Pakistan, as the two countries were taking
ahead the project to its next stages successfully. The Interior
Minister added that today the world was focusing eyes on
Pakistan besides terming it as an ideal country for foreign
investment.
About China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Ahsan Iqbal
said that this project is a game changer and it is playing a
significant role in economic development of Pakistan. He
said that massive investments under CPEC is further
strengthening Pak-China friendship.
He said CPEC is a national agenda and has been put into
implementation in record time due to total commitment of
both Pakistani and Chinese leadership. He expressed
satisfaction over progress of CPEC projects.
The LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said that
development and peace are the two of the major concerns of
businesses. Development requires the removal of major
sources of un-freedom: poverty as well as tyranny, poor
economic opportunities as well as systematic social
deprivation, neglect of public facilities as well as
intolerance or over-activity of repressive states. He said that
People in better economic condition are less likely to
initiate violent conflict both because they are more content
and because they have more to lose from the physical
danger and economic disruption that war brings. The
propensity to indulge in violent conflict is higher for low
income or less educated people. He said that in case of
Pakistan, governance and institutional quality have
deteriorated over the years. In corruption perception index,
although Pakistan's ranking improved slightly but it still
ranked on high side at 116th among 180 countries. The low
performing area identified was overall country's risk which
includes credit risk, economic risk and political risk. ,
Pakistan had not been able to improve the business climate
with the result that it's ranking slipped to as low as 144th out
of 190 economies in 2017.
The LCCI President said according to the recently released
World Bank Ease of Doing Business 2018 report, Pakistan
has slipped three places reaching an all-time low of 147. He
said that Pakistan is confronting myriad issues such as
terrorism, sectarian violence, corruption, external
influence and internal imbroglio that impede progress,
development and prosperity of Pakistan. He said After
Army operations Zarb-e-Azb and Rudd-ul-Fasaad, 90%
terrorism has been rooted out. However, the tail of terrorism
is still pervasive across borders especially Pak-Afghan
border that slowly sows the seed of terrorism.
Malik Tahir Javaid said during the last 16 years, the direct
and indirect cost incurred by Pakistan due to incidents of
terrorism amounted to US$ 123.13 billion. He said that
National Security has become a broad subject with social,
political and economic dimensions gaining importance.
The nature of threats is changing with technological
revolution. He said that CPEC has changed Geo-Political
equilibrium in the region due to which new Geo-Political
pressures are developing on Pakistan. So far as the
preparedness for CPEC is concerned, the governments of
Pakistan and China have to engage the private sectors of
both the countries to create win-win situation for all. We
must develop a comprehensive approach with the
ownership of all stakeholders to succeed in
implementation. The proactive approach adopted by
Chinese businessmen gives this impression that they are
taking CPEC much more seriously than us. Government
needs to give right type of incentives to transform this
scenario where both Chinese and Pakistani businessmen
have level playing field and fair opportunities to grow.
Khawar Rashid and Zeshan Khalil assured the Federal
Minister of the best cooperation from the business
community to make Pakistan a country where rule of law
reigns supreme; where every Pakistani feels secure to lead a
life in conformity with his religious beliefs, culture,
heritage and customs; where a Pakistani from any group,
sect or province respects the culture, tradition and faith of
the other, where every foreign visitor feels welcome and
secure.
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