PM orders development of trade policies to facilitate business sector

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for urgent measures to improve the country’s export competitiveness and ordered relevant institutions to develop trade policies with the main objective of helping the business sector.
At a trade meeting, the Prime Minister ordered exporters to immediately pay for the shortage of certified cotton and seek measures to encourage exports of substandard goods.
Emphasizing the importance of the private sector, he urged them to be taken into account in the process of adopting the entry policy and implementing an exclusive policy to support the automobile industry.
Prime Minister Sharif directed the ministry concerned to create a comprehensive plan to evaluate the performance of trade and investment officers assigned to Pakistani missions abroad, reward those who perform well and dismiss those who do not. He told the meeting that the export industry would re-examine itself.
In the meeting, the Prime Minister was informed that the transit trade agreement with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has been implemented and the negotiations on the free trade agreement between Pakistan and the Gulf countries will be completed.
The recent Pak-Saudi Business Conference reported that around 450 business meetings were held and e-commerce continues to grow with more than 3000 companies registering on the Pakistan Trade Portal.
The meeting was also briefed on the completion of Gem Export framework, strict control on Afghanistan’s transit trade, double digit growth of public sector insurance companies and agreement in principle by Pakistan and Russia to boost barter trade.
It is reported that negotiations on a new strategic trade policy and preferential trade agreements with Afghanistan and Azerbaijan are currently underway with the relevant parties. In addition, legislation is planned to establish a Technology and Innovation Fund to promote industrial development.
Bank Negara Governor, senior officials of concerned departments and federal ministers Jam Kamal Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Dr Musaddiq Malik, Ahad Khan Chema and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jahanzeb Khan attended the meeting.