Daily Times

Pakistan intends to revisit its Free Trade Agreements (FTA) signed with various countries, said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Haroon Akhtar.

The SAPM made these remarks during a press conference on Saturday while elaborating on Pakistan’s economic issues. “The moment our GDP growth crosses 2 or 3%, we have pressure on our reserves because our exports do not increase at the same pace as imports. We have become an import-dependent economy. “This is because, in certain cases, we entered into FTAs without being fully prepared there is no harm in revisiting them,” said Akhtar. Pakistan has signed several FTAs with different countries and regional blocs to enhance trade and economic cooperation.

Some of the major FTAs are Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (PSFTA) and China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA), Addressing the presser, Akhtar said the USA imposed reciprocal tariffs “not just for negotiating purposes, but to revive their dead manufacturing sector”. He informed that the government plans to announce a bankruptcy law soon.

The SAPM noted that around 90% of the cases flagged by the Credit Information Bureau (CIB) stem from worsening macroeconomic conditions – including high markup rates, elevated energy costs, and corporate taxes.

“If we cannot provide credit protection to businessmen and an opportunity to restructure themselves, then that is a failure of the system,” he said.

“Very soon, we are going to come up with a bankruptcy law to protect those people, who, through no fault of their own, have fallen into difficult situations, which if not addressed would lead to factory closure.” It is pertinent to mention that CIB plays a crucial role in managing credit risk by collecting, organizing, and disseminating credit information about borrowers to financial institutions.

He said that Pakistan needs to build up its reserves, which can be achieved through domestic investment. “Domestic investors will attract foreign investment.”

Business Community: The Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan on Saturday said that a delegation would be sent to the United States (US) of America to negotiate tariffs so that our all exports were least affected.

He said that the Prime Minister would send a delegation to the US for talks on the new tariff. Addressing the business community during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) here, he said that the Prime Minister had a desire to revive industrial sector and make progress the country.

SAPM Haroon Akhtar said that the Federal government was focused on the industrialization.

He said that Pakistan had potential and she was a resilient country. He said that policies should be based on export-led industrialization and no policy could be made without hearing stakeholders. Akhtar was of the view that he did not believe in too much regulations.

He said that Industrial Policy would be rolled out and they would make sure that the industrialist were not harassed by investigative agencies dealing with taxes or frauds without any reason. He further said that they would also introduce bankruptcy law in the country. The SAPM said that the PM had focused so much on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He said that the PM had given a new vision to put the country on the path to development.

Giving assurance to the business community of Karachi, he said that their problems would be resolved. He said that Karachi was the New York of Pakistan and ‘We have to create jobs.’ He said we would not be able to reduce fiscal spaces in the upcoming budget but may be in the next budget they would provide relief in taxes.

Akhtar said, ‘We have to change with the world.’

He said that Pakistan had to rely on industrial based export economy instead of imports.

The SAPM said that the federal government had brought down electricity prices for the industries and intended to further reduce power and corporate rates.

He saluted brave soldiers for lying their lives to establish peace in the country, which improved trade and business activities.

Earlier, President KCCI Muhammad Jawed Bilwani and other office-bearers of KCCI , informed the SAPM about their problems and hoped that their problems would be resolved.

Bilwani said that the Prime Minister had a vision and he had fulfilled his promise of bringing down the interest rate.