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Economy (Govt is committed to facilitate the investors, Waqar)
Islamabad, Jul 03, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --
: Federal minister for investment Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan expressed his concern about the gray trafficking by illegal operators in telecommunication sector causing loss of $ 110 million per annum to the national exchequer. The federal minister for investment said this while chairing a meeting to address various issues pertaining to telecommunication sector in the country here Thursday.
The Minister for Investment assured the participants of the meeting that the govt. believes in ensuring legitimate business environment to the investors and will provide level playing field to the stake holders. he said that the government is trying its best to create conducive environment so that the business could flourish. He also assured the representatives of the cellular companies that the government is making all out of its best efforts to install a effective monitoring mechanism based on advanced technology to curb the gray trafficking.
He said that the Pakistan offers friendly business opportunities and there is yet a vast room for further investment in the telecom sector. He stressed upon the CEOS of telecom sector to further enhance their capacity to cater the needs of the people and as there is a yet space to increase the teledensity in the country. Federal minister reiterated that present government is following a participatory approach to take all the stake holders on the board while making any decision.
The representative of the telecom sector appreciated tax relaxation announced in the budget 2009-10 and said that it will help a great deal to the sector for expansion of their capacity and cater the needs of the people. It was also decided during the meeting that the working group comprising representatives of LDI, LL, Fix lines PTCL will be established with the mandate to suggest effective and appropriate measures in consultation with the ministry of information technology, PTA and ministry of Investment to address the problems faced by the telecom operators in the country as well as enhance their effectiveness.
They appreciated the participator approach of the government and assured the minister that as a result of business friendly policies further investment in the sector will be ensured. The participants appreciated the efforts of the present government to enhance foreign investment and to facilitate the investors in telecommunication and other developmental sectors. The meeting was attended by Chairman / CEO of PTCL, LDI (long distance international) licensees, local loop (LL) and other fixed line companies representatives participated in the meeting. Federal Secretary for Investment Tariq Iqbal Puri and Mr. Najeeb-Ullah Malik, federal secretary for information technology were also present.
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