PESHAWAR:
Industrialists from the merged tribal districts have called for fulfillment of promises made at the time of FATA’s merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, demanding urgent tax reduction in the upcoming federal budget to save local industries from collapse.
Addressing a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, prominent industrialist and FATA Industries leader Khalid Khan Afridi, along with leaders of various chambers of commerce, demanded that the 10 per cent sales tax imposed on industries in the merged districts be immediately reduced to four per cent. They also asked for exemptions and reliefs in income tax.
The press conference was attended by Haji Amjad Khan of Mohmand Chamber of Commerce, Haji Lali Shah of Bajaur Chamber of Commerce, Inamullah Khan of Malakand Chamber of Commerce, Engineer Arsalan Khan and Shahzad Arif.
“Our industry is currently on the verge of destruction. On one hand there is terrorism, and on the other, the government continues to impose new taxes every day. No one is thinking of providing relief to ex-FATA and ex-PATA industries,” Afridi said.
He stressed that given the current dire conditions and the devastated state of the industry in the merged districts, the federal government should immediately reduce the sales tax from 10 percent to four percent and provide income tax relief.
Afridi directly appealed to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to sit with them, give them time and listen to their proposals. He highlighted that for the last eight months, all industries in FATA have been closed due to the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, leaving thousands of workers unemployed.
“These workers do not even know how to reach Islamabad to raise their voice for their rights, while the business community is facing severe difficulties due to closure of industries,” he added.
