- 08th March 2022
- Altaf Hamid Rao
- MIrpur
“The policy advocacy skill is an essential component of business leadership as it empowers people to create consensus-based solutions to complex issues”, Faisal Manzoor, President Mirpur (AJK) Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.
“Such skills also enhance the ability of the business leaders to present their cases in a non-violent and structured manner before authorities and their constituencies”, Manzoor underlined while addressing a policy advocacy workshop organized by the Centre for Peace, Development and Reforms in collaboration with AJK Chamber of Commerce and Industry here Tuesday.
Our Special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reported from Mirpur that dozens of the participants of the workshop including office holders of the chamber and key business leaders shared their views and underlined the need to conduct more training sessions to enhance the trade union representatives’ negotiation and policy advocacy skills.
The business community has suffered the most during the Covid-19 lockdown but no concrete steps have been taken by the Government of AJK to support it, Faisal Manzoor said.
He suggested that the AJK Government should provide special incentives to the members of the business community while they are trying to recoup themselves for their losses.
In a presentation; Dr. Waqas Kausar, Kashmir origin Head of Public Policy Department, NUML University, Islamabad, said that the business community needs to explore more economic opportunities in the non-traditional sectors such as e-commerce and digital world as due to Covid-19 pandemic businesses have largely moved from in-person shopping to the digital world.
He also emphasized that the leaders of the Mirpur AJK Chamber of Commerce and Industry should increase their interaction with other small businessmen all across Azad Kashmir and educate them about the emerging opportunities in the sector of tourism and hospitality.
Key participants including Faisal Latif, a renowned IT and E-commerce expert, illustrious writer and Analyst Ershad Mahmoor, VP MCCI Malik Azher, ex SVP AJKCCI Raja Khalid Mahmood, Senior Kashmiri Journalist and Independent observer Altaf Hamid Rao, CPDR’s official Irtiza Mahmood and others said that the business community needs to equip itself with the latest technology and focus more on E-market in order to benefit from the global market.
“The AJK government must provide assistance and training to the business community to unleash its true potential through E-commerce”, they suggested.
In this background, speakers underlined the significance of the policy advocacy skills to convince the government and respective departments to pay heed to the chambers’ demands.
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Ershad Mahmud
The writer is a freelance contributor. He can be reached at:
