BoI chief admits govt failure to address business community issues

According to Business Recorder, Federal Minister for the Board of Investment Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh voiced serious concern on Sunday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had left issues facing the business community unresolved for roughly two and a half years. He spoke at a reception hosted by the Businessmen Group (BMG) at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), where the group launched its election campaign. Shaikh, a National Assembly member elected by the business community, said he had failed to win cabinet backing on these issues.

Shaikh said he had written several letters seeking a meeting with the prime minister, and asked how the community could approach the Federal Board of Revenue chairman if a federal minister could not secure a meeting. He also asserted that PPRA rules were being breached at Port Qasim and said he had informed the premier. BMG chairman Zubair Motiwala presented 30 candidates contesting the KCCI elections on Saturday, September 26, for a two-year term from 2026 to 2028.

Motiwala argued that Karachi, the country's economic hub, still goes unheard by policymakers, though it generates 55% of Pakistan's export earnings and 67% of its tax revenue. BMG vice chairman Anjum Nisar described the economy as declining, noting that export earnings have stagnated for two decades and reached $30 billion in FY26, compared with $26 billion about 18 years earlier.