{"id":17177,"date":"2026-02-23T11:16:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/02\/23\/business-leaders-seek-extension-atif-ikram-sheikh\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:16:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:16:02","slug":"business-leaders-seek-extension-atif-ikram-sheikh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/02\/23\/business-leaders-seek-extension-atif-ikram-sheikh\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Leaders Seek Extension for Atif Ikram Sheikh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD (February 23, 2026) A high-level delegation of former FPCCI vice presidents and leading business figures held detailed talks with <strong>Atif Ikram Sheikh<\/strong> on the country\u2019s economic challenges and the pressing needs of small and medium enterprises. The delegation included former FPCCI Vice Presidents <strong>Sajjad Sarwar<\/strong> and <strong>Qurban Ali<\/strong>, alongside <strong>Arman Shah<\/strong>, President of the Gilgit Small Chamber.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the delegation paid tribute to <strong>Atif Ikram Sheikh<\/strong> for his vocal advocacy on behalf of traders and industrialists during difficult economic conditions. They highlighted his visible leadership and urged the Government of Pakistan to approve a two-year extension of his tenure as President FPCCI to maintain continuity in the Federation\u2019s ongoing reform agenda and protect business interests nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>The delegation briefed the president on severe problems confronting SMEs, flagging the impact of rising electricity and gas prices and a heavy tax burden that is undermining small-scale operations. Representatives from Gilgit described additional logistical and administrative hurdles faced by traders in remote areas, noting that these regional constraints compound the national challenges for small businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the concerns, <strong>Atif Ikram Sheikh<\/strong> thanked the delegation and pledged to pursue SME grievances at the highest government levels. He stressed that &quot;the wheels of the national economy cannot turn swiftly until relief is provided to small-scale traders,&quot; and said the Federation is coordinating with all chambers to draft a comprehensive economic plan that addresses SME relief and broader trade policy issues.<\/p>\n<p>Delegation members reiterated that extending the president\u2019s term would help sustain momentum on reforms and advocacy for SMEs, while calling on authorities to prioritise immediate measures to ease energy costs and tax pressures that are stifling small businesses across Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delegation urges two-year extension for Atif Ikram Sheikh and calls for urgent relief for SMEs hit by rising energy costs and heavy taxes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}