ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) will provide maximum facilitation to the exporters by proposing a revision in the trade-related SROs.
The ministry is also planning to propose amendments in the Foreign Exchange Manual of State Bank of Pakistan which is in place since decades and is not providing complete facilitation to the exporters in the modern trade and investment system.
This was decided in a meeting chaired by the Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan to make proposals for trade facilitation for the 2015 budget and to discuss strategies for the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) III which will be announced after the budget this year.
The Minister said that the trade facilitation measures proposed in the budget will be followed by detailed implementation mechanism so that traders may receive benefits from those measures instantly. He said that the MoC is proposing measures to liberalise Pakistan’s trade and investment regime which will have fruitful impact on the economy of the country.
It was decided that MoC will conduct a study to analyse the successful trade facilitation models introduced by other countries in the region having relatively similar economic conditions and learn from their experience.
The meeting also decided that there is a huge potential to increase exports in the services and agro-food sectors therefore measures will be proposed in the STPF III to provide boost in exports in these budding sectors. The meeting also decided to introduce measures to remove hurdles in the transit trade to Central Asia. The Minister emphasised the need to have regional connectivity in roads, railway, banking, electricity and energy. This will help in bringing investment in the region from the Western countries which are interested in establishing supply and value chains in the region, he said.
