Latest news with #ChambersofCommerce
Ammon
2 days ago
- Business
- Ammon
JCC president calls to boost Agricultural cooperation between Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon
Ammon News - The president of the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Commerce has called for the formation of a trilateral agricultural partnership between Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, describing it as a strategic step toward enhancing regional food security and sustainable economic growth. During a meeting held Tuesday evening with the head and members of the Syrian Syndicate of Agricultural Engineers, Senator Khalil Al-Haj Tawfiq, who chairs both chambers, emphasized the need to consolidate the comparative advantages and shared agricultural strengths of the three countries. He said such collaboration would serve as a platform for regional integration in agricultural production and food systems. According to a statement issued Wednesday by the Amman Chamber of Commerce, Al-Haj Tawfiq underscored the importance of developing a joint agricultural calendar between Jordan and Syria. Such a move would help regulate import and export flows and ensure steady supplies of agricultural products across borders. He stressed that agricultural cooperation should go beyond trade in goods to include deeper economic integration, improved supply chain linkages, and expanded technical cooperation between the two countries. This, he said, would allow for broader knowledge-sharing and more efficient movement of goods. President of the Syrian Agricultural Engineers Syndicate, Mustafa Al-Mustafa, expressed appreciation for Jordan's consistent support under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and praised existing public-private partnerships between the two countries. He highlighted Syria's interest in expanding cooperation to support its agricultural sector and attract new investment. Al-Mustafa also pointed to Syria's extensive fertile lands as a promising opportunity for joint ventures in both production and agri-investment. He said Syria is open to all initiatives that contribute to reconstruction and development and is committed to providing the necessary facilities to foster stronger economic ties with Jordan. Jordanian Agricultural Engineers Syndicate President Ali Abu Nuqta and Agricultural Materials Syndicate President Saleh Al-Yaseen also stressed the importance of continuous coordination between public institutions and private stakeholders. They noted that joint initiatives would strengthen food security in the region and contribute to long-term sustainability. Jordan, they said, remains ready to provide both technical and logistical support, and to facilitate agricultural investments that advance mutual economic interests and strengthen regional integration. Members of the two chambers highlighted the value of transferring Jordanian expertise in agri-technology, farm management, and marketing to the Syrian sector, particularly in efforts to rehabilitate agricultural supply chains and improve production efficiency. They also pointed to the reopening of the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing between Syria and Turkey as a potential channel for the flow of Jordanian fruits and vegetables into Turkish and European markets. This, they said, would reduce logistics costs, improve competitiveness, and boost exports of Jordanian produce. The meeting concluded with an agreement to organize a Jordanian agricultural delegation to Damascus, including representatives from plant and livestock sectors, fertilizer companies, producer associations, exporters, and professional unions. The two sides also agreed to create a shared digital database of producers, importers, exporters, and agri-investment opportunities in both countries. The aim is to foster joint ventures, expand trade, and restore commercial volumes to pre-crisis levels, while addressing any obstacles to economic cooperation. Petra
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Chambers warn Government to tackle critical infrastructure or face 'managed decline'
Failure to deliver critical infrastructure now threatens Ireland's future prosperity, the chief executive of Chambers Ireland has warned, urging the Government to act or risk 'a period of managed decline'. Ian Talbot was speaking at the launch of Chambers Ireland's pre-budget submission, reflecting the shared concerns and aspirations of affiliated Chambers of Commerce around the country. The submission stressed that while the housing crisis remains front and centre, it has overshadowed other fundamental service shortfalls particularly in energy, public transport, water, and wastewater treatment. Mr Talbot said the Government now needs to take decisive and long-term action to tackle these areas. 'Our economy continues to grow but our critical infrastructure has not kept pace with rapidly increasing demand,' he said. 'Few would have predicted today's economic strength during the challenges of the past 20 years and inadequate delivery now means the infrastructure gap threatens our continued prosperity. Bridging that gap is critical and if we fail to act then we risk entering a period of managed decline. 'The era of being able to tolerate delays caused by lengthy planning challenges, judicial reviews and other hurdles is over.' Chambers Ireland includes 36 affiliated chambers representing 10,000 business right across the country. Some of Chambers Ireland's key recommendations include: A commitment to multiannual funding in water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. Continued investment in transport networks. Grid reinforcement and upgrades. Increased housing targets and investment, with a recommendation that Housing for All targets increase from 33,000 units per year to at least 60,000 units per year. Initiatives to stimulate modern methods of construction. Increased funding for port infrastructure. The introduction of a Strategic Capital Investment Scheme to support large scale, high growth projects across key sectors. Expansion and acceleration of non-domestic retrofitting supports. Further investment in childcare. "While the €1.37bn funding announced under Budget 2025 is a significant step forward, core funding should be increased and strategically allocated to address existing gaps in childcare accessibility and affordability," the report notes. Increased funding for apprenticeships. Facilitating SME engagement in international trade. Other recommendations include the roll-out of the single permit system for living and working in Ireland in advance of the 2027 deadline. It also calls for a portion of the National Training Fund surplus to deliver intensive language courses to people seeking international protection. The submission proposes the introduction of tax-incentivised investment schemes to channel household savings into more productive markets and opportunities that support infrastructure expansion and green energy projects. "Over €150bn in household savings remain in low-yield bank accounts, representing a missed opportunity for both savers and the wider economy. Redirecting even a portion of these funds into other productive markets could deliver stronger returns for individuals while providing much needed capital for essential infrastructure and generate increased tax revenues through improved returns and buoyancy," the report states. Mr Talbot drew attention to the State's competitiveness amid global uncertainty, driven by protectionist policies, tariffs and the mounting impact of climate change: 'The significant financial resources available to this Government mean there is a real opportunity to invest in core infrastructure and breathe new life into our towns and cities. This will help build a more sustainable economy and provide the certainty businesses need to stay competitive,' continued Mr Talbot. 'Our climate goals and energy security must also remain at the heart of the next Budget. The Sustainable Development Goals continue to guide the Chamber Network as we work to balance our economic ambition with environmental responsibility. "Economic growth and job creation is being constrained at a time of great opportunity to lead on sustainable growth and embrace new opportunities. We must now act with urgency.'
The Print
6 days ago
- Business
- The Print
Socialism hinders India's industrial growth. We need free enterprise first
It is told that ours is now a socialist state and hence the private sector must subordinate its interests to the state plan and if need be liquidate itself in course of time. The statements made by Ministers of the Government are quite baffling and are many a time diametrically opposed to each other. Prime Minister Nehru, who is a great believer in democracy, said at the A.I.C.C. meeting in January last that he would prefer slow progress to risking individual independence for rapid progress. On the other hand Shri T. T. Krishnamachari, the Finance Minister, has declared that the Second Plan would demand sacrifice and regimentation of our economy, and Shri M. M. Shah, Union Minister of Heavy Industries, said the other day that the public and private sectors could easily coexist without any kind of trouble for the next ten or fifteen years which means by implication that after that the private sector must expect the deluge. This is a significant matter, as it indicates a change in the attitude of the Government towards that section of the population which is traditionally in the pursuits of private trade and industry. Since the decision of the Government to establish a socialist economy in the country, this section has come in for quite an unnecessary measure of discrimination and has been discredited and discouraged at every stage. Chambers of Commerce and trade bodies in the country performed a very useful function in our economy in the past. It was through the Chambers of Commerce that the business community voiced its grievances and sought redress for them at the hands of the Government. The Governments of the past also attached great importance to the pronouncements made by them and tried to modify their policies to the extent possible to suit the requirements of trade and industry. It was as a result of this that even under an alien Government our commerce and industry made significant progress during the past quarter of a century. But alas, during the past years we have seen a complete reversal of these policies. Where do all these statements lead us? The private sector needs as much planning as the public sector. Is it possible for any group of entrepreneurs to go in for any big plan of industrialisation when the only lease of life you give them is ten to fifteen years? Needless to state that the policies of the Government act as a serious deterrent to the growth of any new industry in the private sector. This serious situation has arisen as a result of the adoption of the socialist economy by our Government. Our Government claim that their policy has been endorsed by the country; which means that the vast majority of the unthinking millions of the country have understood the implications of this policy and approve of it. On the other hand there are thousands of thinking people in the country who are convinced that these policies will not only result in raising the standard of living, but may well create a totalitarian regime. But nevertheless the determination of our Government to press forward with their socialist plans seems to gather strength as time goes on, as though socialism is the only panacea for our economic ills, and the private sector represents all the anti-social evils in our body politic. Also read: Private enterprise built India's industries. Now it's strangled by Gods in Delhi The tirade against capitalism is wholly unfounded. Capitalism as it has shaped during the past quarter of a century is a far better method of developing the economic resources of any country, as well as obtaining the ends of social justice, whereas socialism is inevitably a tyranny. To say that the people of this country have accepted socialism as their goal is false. The large mass do not understand what they are being bamboozled into accepting. The view of those who understand its implications is being treated with contempt. It will be therefore right for us to dwell here on the merits and demerits of the two systems. There was a time when the socialists were able to make damaging criticisms of the system of free enterprise. They pointed to the high degree of economic inequality it gave rise to, the insecurity of the worker, and the inadequate use of resources, causing persistent unemployment. In those days there were no socialist systems with which comparisons could be made. They were comparing socialist theory with capitalist practice. If socialist practice had been brought into the discussion, the balance might have been less unequal. Nevertheless these were serious defects in the private enterprise system. But all have been largely or wholly abolished by the developments of the past quarter century. Perhaps the decisive event was the publication of Keynes' great book, The General Theory, in the early 1930s. This book showed how, by manipulation of the bank rate, direct investment activity, and deficit financing, it is possible for a government while preserving private enterprise, to secure full employment and the maximum use of economic resources. At the same time the doctrine of the Welfare State began to be put into force on a large scale. This greatly reduced economic inequality and secured the worker against the economic disasters of casual unemployment, injury, sickness and old age. It is now possible for upholders of free enterprise to challenge the socialists and deny that their system is in any respect superior. Socialism in practice has not fulfilled its promise to bring about equality among men. In fact socialist societies show just as much inequality as capitalist societies. And the free enterprise system retains the inestimable advantage, in which no socialist system can rival it—that it is free. Far back in the nineteenth century, when these problems were first discussed, the opponents of socialism pointed out that that idealistic system would in practice turn out to be a system of slavery. They have been fully justified by the test of experience. Socialism is slavery, whereas free enterprise is free—not only for the capitalist but for the worker, and for the professional man and the intellectual. But all this discussion applies to highly industrialised economies. What is its application to India, where industrialism is still far from fully developed? Until very recently it was the assumption of all on both sides that socialism has no application to backward economies. Marx himself, and all the other socialists, laid it down that the backward economies must be industrialised by free enterprise, and that when that process had reached a certain stage of completeness, socialism would take over. The socialists believed that socialism requires a wealthy economy: it is no use distributing poverty. They also held that for socialism to be practicable, the public, including the workers, must be highly educated, and that cannot be the case unless the nation has been wealthy enough to afford a comprehensive educational system for a generation or more. If you try to impose socialism on a poor and ill-educated community, you inevitably get a dictatorship of the educated minority over the illiterate majority. The socialists were therefore arguing quite sensibly when they said that socialism has no application to backward economies. But now we are faced with a new proposal, unheard of among the classical theorists of socialism. That is that socialism is to be introduced into backward countries straightaway, without waiting for free enterprise to lay the necessary economic foundations. What becomes of Marx's warnings against this policy? They are ignored. But they will come true: we can see them coming true in India today. Under the form of democracy, we see growing up an economic dictatorship of the politicians and the bureaucracy; and the illiterate electorate is powerless to check it. The socialist theorists go further. They argue that socialism can carry a backward country through the process of industrialisation quicker than free enterprise can do it. Look, they say, at our huge hydroelectric and steel plants: how could private enterprise ever undertake tasks of that magnitude? But the argument is a fallacy. It is right for the state to build hydro-electric and steel works, because it is known that there will be a market for their products, and the magnitude of these enterprises places them, for the present, beyond the reach of private capital. In fact the state, with its vast resources, can jump ahead faster than free enterprise can. But that is true only where there is a known demand and therefore a clearly defined economic goal—so much steel, so many kilowatt-hours. Where the state takes it upon itself to supply all the vast variety of the wants of the public, it has no such advantage. In fact, it suffers from great disadvantages as compared with private enterprise. For the state cannot solve the problem of allocation of resources. Under free enterprise that problem is solved by the market, by public demand. Under socialism it is solved by bureaucratic decrees, and such decrees must often be wrong. A bureaucratic management cannot take the place of the market economy. It does not know, and cannot know, how to allocate resources. Only the market can tell that. And moreover, the bureaucratic type of management is less efficient in detail than private management. I know there will be protests at this statement, but you have only to glance round at the state enterprises in Bangalore to see that, whatever else they may achieve, efficiency and economy are minor considerations with them. I conclude that this new-fangled theory of socialism as specially suitable for backward countries is a huge mistake. Socialism in India now is putting the cart before the horse: it is distributing poverty and obstructing development; and worst of all, it is putting into power a vast, irresponsible bureaucracy which will make either political or economic democracy impossible. This essay is part of a series from the Indian Liberals archive, a project of the Centre for Civil Society. This essay is an excerpt from a monograph published by the Forum of Free Enterprise titled 'The Place of Free Enterprise in a Backward Economy' in 1956. The original version can be accessed on this link.
CTV News
10-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Minimum wage will be increasing in Saskatchewan
The province says minimum wage in Saskatchewan will be increasing to $15.34 per hour on Oct. 1, a 34 cent increase. At $15.34, Saskatchewan will have the second lowest minimum wage in Canada, ahead of only Alberta, which stands at $15.00 as of July 10. Federal minimum wage is currently $17.75 per hour and was last increased April 1, 2025. The province says it calculates Saskatchewan's minimum wage using an index formula that gives equal weight to changes to the Consumer Price Index and average hourly wage for Saskatchewan. Deputy Premier and Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Jim Reiter said the increase is an example of the province's 'commitment to address affordability concerns.' 'By raising the minimum wage, we are continuing to support workers and deliver on our commitment to affordability. Saskatchewan's low personal tax rates continue to make our province a great place to live, work and raise a family,' Reiter said in a news release. Reiter said the province knows the importance of raising the minimum wage for workers but added that they also want to create a fair balance for employers as well. 'Over the next few months, we will be working together with the Chambers of Commerce and other key stakeholders to understand the implications of increasing minimum wage for the business community and the impact on Saskatchewan's economy,' Reiter added. In 2007, Saskatchewan's minimum wage was $7.95. October's increase will equal a 93 per cent rise since that time, according to the province.
Business Recorder
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Sections 37A & 37B: Business community threatens to go on nationwide strike
KARACHI: In a strong show of resistance, the major representative trade bodies of business community including Karachi, Lahore, KPK, and Faisalabad Chambers of Commerce have threatened a nationwide business shutdown in protest against Sections 37A and 37B ofthe Sales Tax Act, if the federal government does not immediately withdraw the controversial laws. Addressing a press conference at KCCI Auditorium on Thursday alongside representatives of dozens of trade bodies, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Jawed Bilwani stated that all chambers across the country are holding consultations on a potential strike and may soon jointly announce a nationwide shutdown of businesses. However, he said that first priority is table talk to resolve this issue. Jawed Bilwani and Chairman Businessmen Group Zubair Motiwala, while strongly criticizing the newly enacted Sections 37A and 37B of the Sales Tax Act which grant sweeping arrest powers to FBR officials and urged the government to immediately repeal these draconian sections, warning that such excessive overreach not only undermines Pakistan's image as a business-friendly destination but also severely discourages both local and foreign investors from undertaking any investment initiative. 'Keeping in view the sheer lack of government's interest, the Karachi Chamber initiated large-scale protest campaigns, beginning with the widespread display of banners across Karachi and now escalating with today's high-voltage press conference,' President KCCI said. The presser was also attended by Vice Chairmen BMG Anjum Nisar & Mian Abrar Ahmed, Senior Vice President Zia ul Arfeen, Vice President Faisal Khalil Ahmed, Presidents of seven industrial town associations, former presidents KCCI, prominent business figures along with KCCI Managing Committee Members and a large number of businessmen and industrialists. President Lahore Chamber Mian Abuzar Shad and President Faisalabad Chamber Rehan Naseem Bahrara also addressed the press conference via Zoom. Bilwani said several other Chambers of Commerce had already held press conferences on this critical issue, and there was a unanimous consensus that Section 37A was completely incompatible with doing business in Pakistan. 'The entire business community firmly opposed to this law and fervently demanded repealing of the same and KCCI fully aligns itself with this collective stance,' he added. He said 'KCCI continues to receive an overwhelming number of complaints and expressions of concern regarding these Sections as they believed that business cannot run under the constant threat of Section 37A.' President KCCI noted that 'this law unfairly targets compliant taxpayers rather than addressing the core issues plaguing Pakistan's taxation system.' 'These controversial sections primarily target all the individuals who are already within the tax net instead of acting against only those involved in fraudulent practices such as issuing fake or flying invoices,' he mentioned. He pointed out that the reality was that 60 percent economy was informal. Among the documented 40 percent, barely 1-2 percent might be involved in such malpractice whereas 98 percent registered taxpayers were fully tax-compliant, yet instead of focusing on a few culprits, the entire community of taxpayers will be harassed under the contentious Section 37A and 37B. Bilwani said whenever FBR had filed cases against taxpayers, majority of the court verdicts have favoured the taxpayers. Ironically, it is these FBR officers whose actions have proven baseless in majority of the cases yet they are now being given sweeping and unchecked powers under Sections 37A and 37B. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
