Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday chaired a review meeting on the trade sector and stressed urgent measures to enhance competitiveness in domestic exports and encouraged diversification into non-traditional export items.
The Prime Minister underscored the importance of consulting the private sector in crafting trade policies for business ease and development, acknowledging their pivotal role in national progress.
He issued orders to promptly pay certified duty drawbacks to exporters and to implement a deletion policy to foster the country’s auto sector. He further ordered an evaluation of trade and investment officers stationed in Pakistani embassies abroad.
The Prime Minister committed to self-assessments twice per month of the export sector.
The review meeting was also briefed on matters of improving the Free Trade Agreement with Gulf countries and activating corridor trade deals with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Participants were informed that the recent Pak-Saudi Business Conference facilitated 450 business-to-business meetings, while e-commerce witnessed growth with over 3,000 companies added to the Pakistan Trade Portal.
The meeting was told that the monitoring process in Afghan transit trade was strengthened, and public sector insurance companies experienced double-digit premium growth. Advancements were noted in the gem export framework, and agreements with Iran and Russia on barter trade operationalization were agreed upon.
Meanwhile, consultations on the Preferential Trade Agreement with Azerbaijan and Afghanistan were ongoing, alongside efforts towards a new strategic trade policy and legislation for the Technology and Innovation Fund for Industrial Development.
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