Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has expressed its concern over the unnecessary delay in the opening of Letters of Credit (LCs) for the import of raw materials and urged the government to address this issue. Due to the delay in the opening of LCs, many industries including food, pharmaceuticals, steel, automobiles, telecom, and home appliances were facing a shortage of raw materials for their manufacturing activities, ICCI President Muhammad Shakeel Munir said while addressing a reception. If the issue was not addressed forthwith, it would badly affect the production activities and further hurt the already struggling economy, he added. The government, Muhammad Shakeel said, had announced that the ban on imports was lifted, but the business community was still facing delays in the opening of LCs for many important items including machinery and equipment.

This situation has created a lot of concerns among the small and medium enterprises and the large-scale manufacturing industry, he said and appealed to the finance minister to take notice of this important matter. Others who spoke on the occasion included Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh ICCI Senior Vice President, Muhammad Faheem Khan ICCI Vice President, Khalid Iqbal Malik, Saeed Khokhar, and Mustafeez Abbasi. They agreed that many industries in Pakistan relied on imported materials, but production activities were badly suffering due to delays in the opening of LCs for imports. They asked the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan to take urgent measures to address this vital issue.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk