KARACHI: To address the complaints about damages to export goods by physical examination, the government is installing scanners at all ports, airports and dry ports for checking export cargo without opening containers.
Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan said this while talking to the exporters at the PHMA House. The minister also assured the exporters that all outstanding sales tax refund dues would be cleared by next month, and the government would introduce zero-rating for all categories of exports.
Khurram Dastagir rejected the impression that the GSP Plus status given by the European Union (EU) was threatened by 27 conventions of the UN. He further said that performance under GSP+ was encouraging and according to EU figures, there was a growth of 18pc or $770 million in exports from Pakistan compared to 8pc recorded in 2013. The textile exports are having major growth in overall exports to EU, he added.
The minister hoped that during the first year of GSP+ facility Pakistan would manage to achieve additional growth of $1 billion in exports. He clarified that the facility is valid for 10 years. He further said if we manage to control and improve our internal matters, growth in exports to EU could be even better.
Dastagir Khan informed that the human resource and finance issues of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) have been addressed under which all temporary employees are being regularised.
