The President of the National Council of Chadian Employers (CNPT), Bichara Doudoua, made a press briefing on Thursday, July 23. He advocates for the protection of industries, goods, services and formal trade in Chad.
The National Council of Chadian Employers welcomes the commitment of Chadian companies, in particular its members who, despite the health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, continue to support the State’s tax revenues. According to the president of the CNPT, these companies constitute the bulk of the non-oil economic fabric. “These companies play a three-fold preponderant role, hence the sustainability of the economic fabric, public revenue and the maintenance of decent employment”, explained Bichara Doudoua.
Faced with this situation, the CNPT calls on the government to provide considerable assistance to these companies with a view to their protection and recalls the national opinion of the mission assigned to it.
Bichara Doudoua specifies that the main mission of the CNPT is to inform the government about the real concerns of businesses in general and of its members in particular. This is to allow appropriate regulatory measures to be taken.
According to its President, the CNPT in no way supports the monopoly of companies, or even the pooling of interests to establish a dominant position. It is in this logic that the institution supports the spirit that led to the issuance of the decree suspending the importation of cigarettes, the objective of which is to preserve the revenues and jobs carried by the MCT (Manufacture cigarettes in Chad), says President Bichara Doudoua.
However, he said he was surprised by the action of the association for the defence of consumer rights to have denounced this decree. To this end, the Council informs everyone that “the MCT does not seek to avoid its obligations”. Rather, it is concerned with implementing the objectives of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to eliminate the illicit trade in tobacco products.
In spite of all this, the CNPT calls on all government authorities, particularly the Minister of Finance and Budget through the General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Duties, to strictly apply the contested decree for securing tax revenues. from Chad. He also urges them to see the possibility of enhanced protection for industries based in Chad.
