By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE: The Standing Committee on Banking Affairs of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) convened a key meeting at the Founders Hall under the convenorship of Syed Salman Ali to address critical banking challenges faced by exporters.
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The meeting was attended by special guests Ali Hussam, Chairman PBG, and Mardan Zaidi, Secretary General, along with participants including Amir Ali, Karamat Awan, Waqas, Hammad Khalid, Ramzan Ahmed, Raja Shakeel, Mohammad Shahid, Imran Khan, Mohammad Yaseen, Sheikh Amir Habib, Syed Fahad, Najeeb Chughtai, Imran Asghar, and Kashif Bhatti.
The committee strongly criticized the non-professional and inefficient conduct of commercial banks, highlighting three major issues: delays in onboarding exporters, slow inter-bank data sharing, and provision of incorrect information by previous banks.
Members noted that prolonged delays in opening and activating exporter accounts are causing missed shipment deadlines and loss of confirmed international orders, forcing foreign buyers to shift to competitors. Additionally, poor coordination between banks is resulting in duplication of compliance processes, while inaccurate data from previous banks is damaging business credibility.
The committee resolved to take up these concerns with the Chief Manager of the State Bank of Pakistan and proposed establishing a dedicated SBP complaint counter at LCCI to facilitate timely resolution of banking issues.
The forum emphasized that immediate reforms are essential to improve ease of doing business and protect Pakistan’s export sector.
