Interview with Mr Khalid Tawab – Chairman, Tawab Group
[box type=”shadow” align=”” class=”” width=””]Profile:
Mr Khalid Tawab is an economics, finance and international trade expert. He is a prominent businessman and former Minister of Commerce & Industry Government of Sindh and former Senior Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). He has also served as Vice President and Chairman of various Advisory Committees & Senior Vice President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI). The Government of Pakistan conferred the award of Sitara-i-Imtiaz on him in 2008 for his services. He has visited various countries in order to accomplish Pakistan government’s objectives to enhance economic and trade relations especially with the African countries, China, Malaysia, Iran, United States, Mozambique, Egypt, Oman, Poland etc. He is an active member of Iron and Steel Association of Pakistan. He has been the member of number of official working groups on economic finance, trade, industrial cooperation and economic corridor and presently is the member Board of Governors of various national public/private organizations. He is the Chairman of Tawab Group which is in paper manufacturing, steel, real estate and securities. He is an honorary Consul General of Mozambique since 1989.[/box]
Pakistan & Gulf Economist had an exclusive conversation with Mr Khalid Tawab regarding Roshan Digital Accounts and the economy. Following are the excerpts of the conversation:
RDA is a good initiative of government as it will give opportunities to overseas Pakistanis to open account in Pakistan as per their convenience and send remittances through this account and make investment in Pakistan. Actually, these are the initiatives of the government to facilitate overseas Pakistanis and to discourage the informal sources of sending remittances in Pakistan. Remittances is one of the biggest sources of earning of foreign exchange in Pakistan and I hope that this will facilitate remittances and will improve external account of Pakistan and enhance the confidence of foreign investors.
Monitoring the current account is very important as it measures the financial health of the country. The current account of Pakistan is in surplus in the first seven month of the current fiscal year. The surplus current accounts posted due to an increase in exports to US$14.3 billion in first seven months and rising trend in remittances.
The economy of Pakistan is on the track of growth as agriculture production has increased and large scale manufacturing is indicating a positive growth and grew by 11 percent in first half of FY21. Textile, food beverages & tobacco, non-metallic mineral products, automobile, iron & steel products, coke & petroleum products and pharmaceuticals show positive growth trend. As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the inflation is also indicating a declining trend and policy rate is low which encourage the investors to make investment in country. At the external side, exports and remittances are increasing which impact positively on current account surplus. Moreover, foreign exchange reserves have increased to US$20 billion, which indicates strong sovereignty of Pakistan.
I think the year 2021 will be better than the last year. Last year, pandemic was new and we didn’t know the safety measures and now we have learnt to live with COVID-19 by taking safety measures. I can’t say anything for other countries but this year will be good for Pakistan and the economy is moving on the path of growth and development. Industry has also revived and government is also taking more measures for the betterment of economy. Moreover, this is exceptional blessing of Allah on Pakistan as the pandemic COVID-19 doesn’t make huge losses in terms of human and finance as like other countries. I hope that the future of Pakistan is bright and prosperous.