ISLAMABAD: The Commerce Ministry, during the 64th meeting of the Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Commerce Minister Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan, has revealed that it has received about 800 proposals from all the stakeholders for the formulation of third Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2015-18.
Representatives of Ministry of Textile, National Food Security and Research, Industries and Production, Water and Power, Science and Technology, Information Technology, Board of Investment, SMEDA, State Bank of Pakistan, provincial governments, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, district chambers, exporters associations and academia also participated in the meeting.
Opening the meeting, the commerce minister said that the government is endeavouring to present a realistic, stable, predictable and transparent medium-term trade policy framework which could effectively address the issues confronted by the exporters of Pakistan. He said that with improving peace and enhanced energy availability in the country, the investors will regain confidence and start investing in the country. He was of the view that priority of the government is to initiate policies which could reduce the cost and enhance the ease of doing business in the country.
The Council was informed that the Ministry of Commerce sought proposals from all the relevant stakeholders during the formulation of STPF and received 800 proposals. These proposals were thoroughly scrutinized in the Ministry and several of them will find their way into the final draft of the policy framework.
The participants put forward numerous proposals and emphasized the importance of bringing consistency in the economic policies. It was proposed that the Ministry of Commerce should work to improve the marketing and branding of Pakistani products abroad by effectively using its trade missions.
