Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Due to poor performance of promoting the export items in foreign countries, Ministry of Commerce has proposed to mitigate the Trade Missions budget for next fiscal year 2016-17. Pakistan exports have stalled to 23 billion dollar in ongoing financial year.

Reliable sources told Daily Times that high officials of the government especially from the Ministry of Commerce are very upset over the trade attachés performance, posted abroad working in 55 different countries for promotion of Pakistan’s export items. Moreover, the reports submitted by these trade attachés to Commerce Ministry relating to promotion of export commodities are not up to mark.

They failed to project the export commodities in best way so that the Pakistan export trend is decreasing day by day. In the meantime, Minister of Commerce had instructed to Finance Wing of the Ministry that the expenses of trade missions should be brought down so the increasing criticism emerging from Opposition and other stake holders of the role of the trade attaches is cool down.

Ministry of Commerce had allocated Rs 1.81 billion for trade missions in current fiscal year and available documents indicate that for the next fiscal year 2016-17 Ministry of commerce has proposed to allocate Rs 1.71 billion for trade mission expenses to Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Planning.

It is pertinent to mention here that one side the officials proposed to decrease the trade mission budget but on the other hand it has increased the trade mission abroad from 55 to 57.

Documents show that government has allocated 29.09 million rupee for Istanbul mission but now it has proposed Rs 28.42 million. Bangkok budget is Rs 23.93 million, for next fiscal year it is propose Rs 21.90 million. Dhaka trade mission has proposed to decrease Rs 15.31 million to Rs 16.57 million.

Same is the situation with Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Nairobi, Paris, Beijing, Rome, Sydney, Tehran, EC Brussels, London, the Hague, Washington, and some other destinations.

On the other hand, Ministry has proposed to increase the next fiscal year budget 2016-17 of Mardid, Seoul, Montreal, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Kabul, Kandahar, Shanghai, New Delhi, Jakarta, Kuwait, Manchester, Prague and CS Brussels trade Missions from current fiscal year 2015-16. While ministry has proposed to end the budget of two trade missions AL Khubar and Vancouver for next fiscal year.

Source told Daily Times that ministry has once again proposed to increase the budget of Seoul, Montreal, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Kabul, Kandahar, Shanghai, New Delhi as Pakistan trading volume to these destination is satisfactory but ministry is not looking for new destination which is dire need of the day to increase the export of Pakistan.