The Standing Committee meeting on Maritime Affairs was held under the chairmanship of Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, MNA. Taking up different agenda items related to the attached departments of the ministry, the Chairman stressed that the committee represents the will of the people and is here to help the Government / Executive make the departments more efficient and stronger.
While following up on the recommendations made in the previous meeting, the committee again recommended the permanent chairman of PNSC. A letter of recommendation will also be written to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The Standing Committee noted that PNSC is Pakistan’s national flag carrier and a reputed global player in the maritime transportation industry. In other countries, the procurement and purchase of vessels are exempt from various taxes, especially sales tax.
To encourage and boost the shipping sector, particularly PNSC, it was unanimously recommended that vessels and ships procured or purchased in the future be exempt from sales tax. This would also exempt seafarers’ salaries sailing the national flag from income tax. The committee also recommended amending the import/trade policy to provide the first right of refusal to empower the national fleet.
The committee noted that PNSC should contribute meaningfully to the CSR fund by involving the youth and qualified people of the local community. Although the committee showed reservations about revamping and selling vessels, it was recommended that the ships be disposed of as soon as they reached retirement age. The committee also stressed that there should be a uniform policy for people to be employed on a daily wage or contract basis. People with skills should be kept in the organization by offering them good packages. And it was also stressed that there should be no witch hunt in the name of reforms being carried out.
The Minister, Mr. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, told the committee that as with the case of other organizations and to comply with the international requirements, all organizations in MoMA, such as KPT and PQA, are made SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) compliant.
Besides the Chairman, Minister for Maritime Affairs Mr. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Mr. Arshad Sahi MNA, Malik Shakir Bashir Awan MNA, Mr. Khurram Munawar Manj MNA, Mr. Hassan Sabir MNA, Syed Rafiullah MNA, Mr. Mohammad Usman Badani MNA, Mr. Pullain Baloch MNA, Secretary MOMA, Chairman PQA and Senior Officers from MoMA and attached departments attended the said meeting.
