ICCI for promoting domestic commerce to enhance exports and stabilize the economy.

ISLAMABAD -- The business community on Friday urged the government to focus on promoting domestic commerce that would stimulate economic activities, enhance exports, and stabilize the economy.

Faad Waheed, Acting President ICCI while addressing a seminar on 'The State of Domestic Commerce in Pakistan' organized in collaboration with the Policy Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), said that domestic commerce is an important segment, that provides employment to 40 percent of the non-agricultural workforce, but the development of domestic commerce and domestic markets has been neglected in the policy-making even though it contributes significantly to the GDP.

He urged the government to improve the infrastructure for domestic commerce in wholesale and retail sectors and focus on developing a network of business centers, markets, and shopping malls to make Pakistan a thriving economy.

He lauded the initiative of PIDE for developing a research study on The State of Domestic Commerce in Pakistan and hoped that the government would benefit from this study report to bring needed policy reforms for the promotion of this sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Nadeem ul Haq, Vice Chancellor, PIDE highlighted the too many regulations, complicated documentation and registration processes, complexity and multiplicity of taxes, high cost of compliance, fear of penalties, and difficulty accessing formal finance to businesses as the...