In late April the recently formed Pakistan Business Council (PBC), which comprises representatives of large companies, put forward a road map for reviving Pakistan's moribund economy. At a "brain-storming" meeting with political leaders, there was a broad consensus on some of the more innovative ideas that were aired, as well as on a host of suggestions, such as the taxation of agricultural income, which have been proposed for decades but have not been implemented because of a lack of political will. (According to the PBC, taxing agricultural income, a long-standing demand of foreign agencies, is possible under existing legislation.) Among the other ideas mooted were proposals to impose a property tax in major cities, increase food subsidies for the poor, revamp education in religious schools to promote better technical skills, and increase trade with India.

On the last point, the PBC recommended specifically that Pakistan grant India most favoured nation status in order to enhance regional trade. This would mean that the currently limited "positive" list of goods that can be traded by the two countries would be replaced by a "negative" list of items, such as weapons, that cannot be traded, while trade in all other types of goods would be allowed. The PBC also recommended an increase in the number of border crossings between the two countries. It further appeared to borrow an idea that has been implemented in India, suggesting that an employment programme providing 100 days of work a year should be introduced for unskilled workers. In addition, the PBC recommended the establishment of a Ministry of Energy to help to integrate energy planning and to take steps to increase the country's power-generation capacity. It also argued that Pakistan could increase tax revenue by up to PRs400bn (US$4.7bn) a year through better enforcement of the existing tax regime.

The meeting was attended by representatives of almost all of Pakistan's political parties, including the PPP, the PML (N), the PML (Q) and the MQM. The chairman of the PBC, Asad Umar, said that the parties had agreed to bury their differences in order to revive the economy. According to Mr Umar, the council's findings will be presented to the president, Asif Ali Zardari, who will then submit them to the government for implementation. Following the meeting, the PBC agreed to set up working groups to address five different issues, which will include politicians and representatives of the private sector.