Daily Times

Country’s exports to $35 billion under Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2015-18, increasing its share in global trade, reducing cost of doing business, ease market-access, strengthen its institutions, improving competitiveness through professional training, lowering costs of industrial inputs, entering into Preferential-Trade Agreements with developed countries for high-potential value-added exports and exploring new international markets by activating Trade Development Authority of Pakistan remained a nightmare.

Commerce, industry and finance ministers besides financial managers of successive past two governments of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz remained unsuccessful in taking concrete measures in direction to facilitate business community for a significant increase in exports from Pakistan, lamented trade and commerce bodies and export-oriented industrial and agro based sector people.

Expressing their respective views and pinning hope in incoming business and commerce, industry, finance ministers they said that there had been vast opportunities of opening fresh vistas of trade with East-Asian and African regions but nothing had happened on this front.

In addition, government’s incentives and special package to exporters with reduced taxes and preferential treatment to turnaround situation largely remained unattended.

Agha Saiddain, Ghulam Rabbani, Ibrahim Qureshi, Shakeel Ahmad, Sanaullah Khan, Qamar Qureshi, executives of prime export sectors- tanning, textile, business forum, agriculture sector, marble and minerals, economic forum and others segments of trade and business were of the opinion that Imran Khan government should take bold-decisions to accelerate progress on multiple internal and external fronts, especially increase in exports and decrease in imports.

The country’s exports can be increased by 30 percent annually and there is an urgent need to bring down cost of all essential utilities, at par with regional competitors, to promote country’s textile, leather, surgical, marble and other sectors value-added exports, they maintained.

The most critical challenge of the industrial sector and of the country in general is to overcome energy crisis to ensure sufficient and affordable supply of power that is essential to maximise industrial productivity. There is a need to further strengthen trade-

diplomacy policies.

At this juncture, a business-friendly environment will enhance investors’ interest, restore confidence of export-oriented industrial sector people and help resolving the issues of common people as well.

Presently, country has become focal region for large-scale foreign investments. A transnational initiative-China Pakistan Economic Corridor worth over $65 billion is underway.

The country’s exports should increase by 30 percent annually and there is an urgent need to bring down cost of all essential utilities, at par with regional competitors, to promote the country’s textile, leather, surgical, marble and other sectors value-added exports. This would definitely help increase the exports to $35 billion. They said that new government should go through transparency of 19 memorandums of understandings with China for completion of various development projects worth $47 billion dollar in Pakistan.

Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan said that Pakistan is facing acute shortage of housing units and needs to build 1 million houses per year to cope with rising demand of people.

New government should come out to support real estate industry and address its key issues in order to provide better living facilities to the people.

Measures should also be taken for promotion of trade sector specialists and maximum utilisation of human capital, vital for success and a necessary ingredient to make Pakistan a developed country.

Published in Daily Times, August 12^th 2018.