Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday urged the business community, especially the small traders and industries, to contribute generously to the flood relief efforts and support the flood-affected countrymen.
The president, addressing the Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries (ICST&SI) Achievement Awards distribution ceremony, also urged the business community to adopt the latest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to expand their businesses and bring value addition to their products.
He asked the businessmen to explore new markets to expand exports and overcome the current economic difficulties being faced by the country.
The president emphasised the need to invest in the human resources of the country, saying that upskilling our youth bulge and women population in different sectors of the economy, especially the IT sector, could help Pakistan achieve fast-paced growth in the short term.
He said that Pakistan should focus on the development of a knowledge-based economy and equipping its enormous human resources with soft and latest technical skills to put the country on a path of progress. He advised the business community to base their business and trade upon ethical values of honesty, integrity, responsibility, quality, trust and respect and customer satisfaction to consolidate their position in the market in a sustained manner.
President Alvi said that new markets could be captured by maintaining the quality of goods and services to gain the trust, confidence and loyalty of customers and fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities.
He called upon the chambers of commerce to motivate their members to organize trade fairs and exhibitions of their products and services in the country as well as abroad, besides using online marketing facilities to substantially increase their customer base and expand their businesses. Highlighting the importance of exports in bridging the current account deficit, he said that the country needed to bring about a paradigm shift in the pace of its economic progress.
