Daily Times

A common Expo Centre will be established for cities of Sialkot, Gujrat, Wazirabad and Gujranwala, for which Government of Punjab will be approached for allocation of land.

This was agreed in principle by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood in an official visit to Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GTCCI) on Saturday.

The advisor recognized and appreciated the role of the industry in these cities for their contribution in overall exports of Pakistan and assured full support to exporters and industrialists. He underlined that for sustainable growth in exports, we need to diversify our products, into the developmental sectors, and find new markets, including Africa and Middle East, etc.

During the visit, the advisor discussed development of fans, furniture and pottery industries with the representatives. He visited the Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association, where the representatives shared different issues related to export of fans and discussed practical and constructive solutions for development of industry and resolution of problems.

The Association members appreciated Ministry of Commerce for various measures and interventions for boosting exports and promoting engineering sector, especially the recent move for revision of rates of duty drawbacks for electric fans. In addition, the problems related to Mandi Bahauddin were also raised by the Chamber representatives. The Advisor assured that the Government will play its facilitative role in finding solutions to their issues.

In the meetings with industry representatives, the Advisor said that Pakistan has been able to successfully deal with the health and economic challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic because of the effective coordination between the federal and provincial authorities, as well as the private sector.

Dawood underscored that due to these joint efforts and proper implementation of SOPs, Pakistan was able to bounce back quickly, in terms of exports, as compared to its regional competitors.

The Advisor on Commerce apprised the representatives of the industry of various cost reduction measures, like tariff rationalization on raw materials and intermediaries, taken by the Ministry of Commerce, to enable the industry to manufacture their products on globally competitive rates and ensure value-addition.

He reiterated that these measures are essential for strengthening of economy by promoting ‘Make in Pakistan’, export led growth and import substitution. The Advisor informed that the Government has already done tariff rationalization for 41 percent of the raw materials and intermediaries, while the next measures are also under consideration for different sectors, including chemicals, engineering, pharmaceuticals, leather, food processing and textiles, under the three years tariff rationalization plan of the MOC.