Reduction of custom duty on import of bitumen welcomed

ISLAMABAD—Engr. Ahmad Ghazal Usmani, Chairman, All Pakistan Contractors Association (APCA) has thanked President of Pakistan, General Pervaiz Musharraf, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, Federal Minister for Communication, Muhammad Shamim Siddiqui, and Minister for State / Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr. Muhammad Akram Sheikh, for accepting the demand of APCA and slashing custom duty on the import of bitumen from 15% to 5%.
Chairman APCA, has stated that with this step of the government the shortage of availability of bitumen will reduce and it will be possible for the contractors to complete the road projects of national importance at a faster pace.
Chairman APCA particularly thanked, Muhammad Shamim Siddiqui, Federal Minister for Communication, for his personal interest in the reduction of custom duty which will quicken the pace of the development in the country. Chairman APCA assured that the contractors of the country will mobilize themselves fully for the completion of the projects on which the work was almost stopped due to non-availability of bitumen. Chairman APCA stated that the price of imported bitumen will almost be at par with the price at which the bitumen is being supplied by National Refinery, Karachi and Attock Refinery. Chairman APCA hope that government will consider the other demands of the Contractors sympathetically and with the same spirit. Chairman APCA assured the government for full support of the contractors in the unprecedented development activity of the country which has resulted in the employment of the un-employed workforce and the revival of 40 Allied Industries.—PR