General Qamar Javed Bajwa

By Nasir Aijaz
AsiaN Representative

Islamabad: Top business leaders of the country called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday night to convey their serious concerns about Pakistan’s stagnating economy.

An Urdu language private satellite channel ‘Geo TV’ reported Thursday quoting its sources that the businessmen met General Bajwa at a dinner reception at the Army House in Rawalpindi.

The main concern for the businessmen was that the government does not go beyond verbal assurances and that its words do not match its actions, the report said.

The businessmen added that their recommendations were heard in a meeting with the prime minister earlier, however, no action had been taken on them as yet.

Separately, in a session with stakeholders hosted by COAS at Army Auditorium, General Bajwa apprised the participants about improved internal security environment of the country which had enabled space for increased economic activity, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in Tweets.

The army chief said that accessibility and responsiveness of government economic team to the business community was important and displayed understanding between public and private institutions was a good sign for intended positive trajectory in economic activity.

He added that national security was intimately linked to economy while prosperity was a function of balance in security needs and economic growth. COAS further said that aim of various discussions and seminars was to bring stakeholders at one platform to formulate recommendations for a synergistic way forward, the media’s military wing said.

Government economic team apprised business community about initiatives being introduced by the government to facilitate businesses and the encouraging results of stabilization efforts on national economy, ISPR added.

The businessmen shared their suggestions with the government team to further improve the environment for ease of doing businesses and assured that they will cooperate in implementation of government reforms and also play their part by paying taxes and investing in a socially and economically responsible manner, it added.

The army chief thanked all participants for purposeful utilization of the joint forum by stakeholders for discussions and seminars leading to formulation of policy recommendations for subsequent processes and implementation.