Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, Altaf Ghaffar and Tanveer Barry were announced elected as President, Senior Vice President and Vice President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) respectively during the 62nd Annual General Meeting held at KCCI’s Auditorium.
Chairman Businessmen Group Zubair Motiwala, Vice Chairmen BMG Tahir Khaliq, Haroon Farooki, Anjum Nisar, Jawed Bilwani, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, newly elected President Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, newly elected Senior Vice President Altaf Ghaffar, newly elected Vice President Tanveer Barry, retiring President Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, retiring Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, retiring Vice President Haris Agar, Managing Committee Members, former Presidents and a large number of General Body Members were also present at the AGM.
On the occasion, Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala urged all BMGIANs to exhibit absolute discipline, which, the late Siraj Kassam Teli always reiterated, is the first step on the road to success.
He said that thanks to all the hard work done by the Businessmen Group, the Karachi Chamber has emerged as the leading and strongest Chamber of Commerce in the country, whose recommendations are taken seriously and given special attention at the federal and provincial levels.
Chairman BMG further appreciated all those KCCI Members who densely participated in this year’s election to support BMG by casting votes in favour of BMG candidates, which was undoubtedly a big achievement as around 3,000 voters participated in the elections. “This year’s election was not just about contesting but about seeking the endorsement of KCCI members, and I was excited to see so much passion and enthusiasm shown by BMG supporters who extended unconditional support to our candidates, which we highly admire”, he added.
Highlighting the efforts made by retiring Office Bearers, he said that Tariq Yousuf, Touseef Ahmed and Haris Agar deserve to be highly appreciated as they did a splendid job by smoothly carrying out KCCI’s affairs in an extremely challenging economic environment. “Noteworthy meetings and activities took place at KCCI whereas the Prime Minister also visited Karachi several times to hold meetings with KCCI leadership, besides gracing KCCI’s Export Trophy Awards Ceremony. “Under PM’s directives, several federal secretaries, who are not easily approachable, immediately rushed to KCCI to listen to the grievances and resolve the issues faced by the business community, which has never happened before. “I hope that the newly elected Office Bearers Iftikhar Sheikh, Altaf Ghaffar and Tanveer Barry would also follow the footprints of retiring office bearers to achieve new milestones and positive results in dealing with numerous issues being faced by the business community”, he said.
Vice Chairman BMG Tahir Khaliq congratulated the newly elected Office Bearers and appreciated all the achievements of retiring office bearers who did a good job ensuring maximum activities at KCCI.
Vice Chairman BMG Haroon Farooki, while expressing satisfaction over complete unity amongst BMGIANs, stated that the Group has remained completely intact since its inception in 1998, and they all remain fully united to date. Therefore, anyone looking forward to hatching conspiracies should refrain from such acts. He particularly appreciated the impressive performance of retiring President Tariq Yousuf, who carried out bustling activities that gave more exposure to KCCI. He said it would be a difficult year for the newly elected office bearers who will have to struggle hard, set a clear vision and devise an effective action plan for dealing with the situation.
Vice Chairman BMG Anjum Nisar said 2022-23 was undoubtedly a difficult year, yet the outgoing office bearers and managing committee members performed very well in dealing with issues. “The new incumbents are going face more challenges, so they will have to act more aggressively in dealing with numerous issues including skyrocketing inflation, exorbitantly high-interest rates, lowest FDI, peaking circular debt, descending export, stagnant remittances and infrastructure issues”, he added.
Vice Chairman BMG Jawed Bilwani paid glowing tribute to all BMGIANs for making all-out efforts during KCCI’s elections, which ensured another remarkable victory for BMG. “It seems that the government has finally realised the significance of Karachi and started paying special attention to KCCI as we represent a city which contributes around 70 percent of revenue to the national exchequer and 54 percent to the country’s exports”, he said, “We all must keep on exhibiting complete unity so that KCCI continues to receive special attention from the top most authorities of the country.”
General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil congratulated BMG Leadership and the newly elected Managing Committee for introducing electronic voting in KCCI’s elections, encouraging 88 percent of voters to vote electronically. “There is a need to take more such initiatives to further improve KCCI’s performance by taking IT-enabled initiatives”, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the newly elected President of KCCI, Iftikhar Sheikh, assured his utmost efforts to dedicatedly serve the business community, which has been facing many issues in dealing with numerous authorities and departments. “Under BMG’s policy of Public Service, I will be readily available to serve anyone who climbs the Chamber’s stairs for help”, he added.
He assured to keep pursuing gas, electricity, water and refund issues, particularly those created by shipping companies with relevant authorities, until all these issues are amicably resolved.
On the occasion, retiring President Mohammed Tariq Yousuf highlighted numerous milestones achieved during his tenure, which became achievable thanks to the support and cooperation extended by BMG Leadership, particularly Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala. He also extended full support and cooperation to the newly elected office-bearers to efficiently resolve the pending issues with relevant ministries/ departments and amicably resolve them.
Retiring Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, Vice President Haris Agar, newly elected Senior Vice President Altaf Ghaffar and newly elected Vice President Tanveer Barry also spoke on the occasion.