LAHORE: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has failed to safeguard the interests of the business community, FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) said on Sunday.
BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar said that the business community pinned high hopes on the FPCCI only to get disappointed.
The UBG under the leadership of former TDAP CEO SM Muneer and Iftikhar Malik is controlling the FPCCI since three years and it is only interested in promoting personal interests at the cost of the business community and the shattered economy, he added.
BMP chairman also said that FPCCI and its string group supported the government from the last three years but have not been able to furnish any plan of economic betterment. The research and development department of the FPCCI is as dysfunctional as other departments, he alleged and added that it has badly damaged repute of the apex chamber, therefore, the finance minister and other top government functionaries prefer not to get engaged with this trade body.
On the other hand, Pakistan Business Council and some other associations have worked hard to provide recommendations to the government which has added to their prestige, he said.
Anjum Nisar also said that the FPCCI was failing on every front and it hasn’t issued a single laudable report in last three years. He added that the apex chamber of neighbouring country India continues to employ dozens of PhDs, experts and former senior officials of World Bank, who are working hard to improve the economy, therefore, that body is not taken lightly by their government.
The BMP Spokesman Ahmad Jawad said that if the role of FPCCI has been reduced to useless meetings and photo sessions then there is no need to spend millions of rupees on this institution. They also demanded that the federation needs to be restructured on international standards on a priority basis.
He also said that the new EC and GB members of the FPCCI needed to think realistically about the performance of the chamber and make decisions accordingly on whom to choose in the coming elections.
“The Businessmen Panel is determined to address your issues if you elect us and will continue to stand with you on every issue, and soon we will issue a white paper of the three years performance of UBG,” Jawad added.
