PESHAWAR: Provincial minister for finance Sirajul Haq has assured the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry to involve it in preparing the provincial government budget and resolve its issues with the federal government.

Addressing a meeting of KPCCI members on Thursday, Sirajul Haq announced to take the chamber president, Zahidullah Shinwari, on the provincial government`s recently constituted finance department`s working group and a member of the chamber on the working group of augaf and religious affairs.

He said the chamber would be consulted at the time of formulating the provincial government`s budget and its future economic and trade policies, giving the business community a major role in preparing public policies.

The meeting was attended by a large number of KPCCI members and former presidents of the chamber, including Sharafat Ali Mubarak, Ghazanfar Bilour, Malik Niaz Ahmed apart from senior functionaries of the provincial government and the acting managing director of the provincial public sector Bank of Khyber.

Speaking on the occasion, the chamber`s president Zahidullah Shinwari demanded of the finance minister that the provincial govern-ment should consult the business community before any future meetings with the federal authorities, including the prime minister, federal finance minister, and the federal minister for trade and commerce.

He called upon the finance minister to help KPCCI in getting an incentive package from the federal government to off-set the militancy`s adverse effects on the provincial economy and the business community. `The provincial government should become part of the chamber`s efforts and hold joint talks with the federal government,` said Mr Shinwari.

Similarly, he also suggested that the provincial government should joint KPCCI and become a party to the chamber`s writ petition challenging the imposition of fuel adjustment surcharge in the Supreme Court.

Inviting the finance minister`s attention towards the non-installation of new gas connection in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited, the chamber`s chief asked for taking up the issue with the federal government, requesting him to help the chamber in arranging negotiations with the relevant federal authorities.

He also urged the minister to compensate local jewellers affected by a recent fire at a city shopping plaza owned by the augaf department, adding that they should be allotted shops with ownership rights.