ISLAMABAD:Senator Saleem Mandviwalla Wednesday directed the Board of Investment (BOI) to hold consultation with all provincial Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to avoid any mismanagement in the provision of all facilities and exemptions promised at the time of foreign investment in these zones.
He gave this direction while chairing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, said a press release issued here.
The senate body deliberated on property tax notice to ‘Hayat Khimya Pvt. Ltd’ by Punjab Excise and Taxation department.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla maintained that the company is located in Special Economic Zones and Government of Pakistan has a clear policy, which states that factories located in Special Economic Zones are exempted from all sorts of taxes.
The Chairman also directed the Excise and Taxation department not to send any further notice until the matter is resolved.
The issues confronted by ‘Dawlance’, the electronic appliances manufacturer, were also taken up. Representative of Dawlance told the committee that due to non-issuance of LCs the company is losing Rs.500 Million monthly and around two thousand workers have been laid off so far.
They further added that, if it continues then they are forced to shut down their factories.
The Chair directed the ministry to address the issues at the earliest and assured the company of full support. He also directed the ministry to submit progress report on the matter in the next 15 days.
The Senate body congraluted Khawaja Masood Akhtar, owner of ‘FORWARD Sports’ for being the sole company of Pakistan, whose footballs were used in FIFA 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla stated that Khawaja is another success story of Pakistan, whose footsteps shall be followed by the other industrialists of Pakistan.
He further added that Khawaja played a pivotal role in displaying a positive image of Pakistan worldwide. The committee also endorsed Khawaja’s name for the Highest Civil Award in recognition of his contributions in manufacturing industry.
Furthermore, the committee was apprised on the withdrawal of appeals by Federal government against the verdict of Federal Shariat Court on Interest/Riba.
Officials of State Bank Of Pakistan (SBP) informed the committee that, Federal Shariat Court in its judgment pronounced that Riba shall be eliminated from the country till June 2022.
However, the appeal was filed to extend the time period and for the guidance of Federal Shariat court in this matter.
Aisha Ghaus Pasha, State Minister for Finance and Revenue, told that every political party has expressed inclination toward the elimination of interest/Riba and SBP is working on a transformation plan, which will be implemented in the coming years.
“The Plan doesn’t aim at the transition of the entire financial system, however, it is limited to certain windows and products”, she added.
Moreover, the senate committee also discussed the matter relating to notices sent to business persons by FBR under Anti-Money Laundering Act. Asim Ahmad, Chairman FBR, informed the committee that Finacial Monitoring Unit (FMU) sent reports of suspicious transactions and before serving notice to the other party, these reports are being verified by the third party.
He further added that only a transaction worth Rs.10 Million or above is processed under Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla was of the opinion that the matters of suspicious transactions should be investigated under Tax evasion instead of the anti-money-laundering act.
The Committee directed the FBR to take the referred matter as a test case and advised to be extra careful in the scrutiny of all cases pointed out by FMU.
While discussing the matter of google payments being stopped by SBP, officials of SBP told that the cellular companies were directed to submit their contract documents to establish the misuse and violation outside of their mandate by 31st of December.
The Chair directed the officials to provide progress on the matter once the deadline passed.
The Senate committee was also briefed by the ministry on vacant positions of board members of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP).
Rahat Kunain Hassan, Chairperson CCP, apprised the committee that the three vacant positions have been advertised yesterday and the process will be completed soon enough.
The Chair directed the ministry to submit details on the matter once the process is completed.
The meeting was attended by Senator Saadia Abbasi, Senator Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Tarin, Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman, Senator Dilawar Khan, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Federal Minister of Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Mohsin Aziz, State Minister for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Special Secretary Finance Awais Manzur Sumra, Chairman FBR Asim Ahmad and other concerned officers were also in attendance.