Commerce Secretary Muhammad Younus Dagha said on Wednesday that there is a challenging situation in exports but the government is committed to providing relief to the export-oriented industry in budget 2017-18 to check the declining trend. While speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Secretary Commerce pledged to hold consultation with the private sector to make policies more effective.
"Policies framed in isolation cannot give desired results. The government wants to give same incentives to the export-oriented industry as being given by the competitors," he said. He said all economic indicators are good but there is declining trend in exports. He said foreign exchange reserves are at record level, markup and inflation are at the lowest while there is zero loadshedding for the industry.
He said that Strategic Policy Framework 2015-18 is being improved as it has not given the expected results. He said lack of research and development in agriculture sector is a major bottleneck to growth. Private sector should join hands with the government in this regard, he added.
He said joint ventures and collaborations in food sector can help exploit true potential. Duties and taxes have been reduced on raw materials being used in export-oriented industries and more relief would be given in the coming federal budget. LCCI President Abdul Basit, Senior Vice President Amjad Ai Jawa and Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan spoke on the occasion while former presidents Mian Muzaffar Ali, Engineer Sohail Lashari, former vice president Aftab Ahmad Vohra, Awais Saeed Piracha, Syed Mukhtar Ali and Tariq Mahmood were also present.
LCCI President Abdul Basit called for checking factors hindering the country's economic growth. Pakistan's exports had fallen to $21.9 billion in 2016 from $24.1 billion in 2015. There is five percent decline in the exports of manufacturing sector including carpet, sports goods and surgical instruments. It is a matter of concern that exports with 89 countries have shown the trend of negative growth because these countries have started imports from other countries, he added.
He said the cost of doing business and energy cost is high as compared to the other regional countries. He said all these factors are destroying the comparative advantage of the countries. Abdul Basit called for value addition and promotion of light engineering to get greatest advantage from the global market. He said the government should establish industrial and technological parks. He said all export-oriented sectors should be given duty drawback as being given in India. He said that duties and taxes on the inputs of exports must be at the lowest while food sector should be given zero-rated facility.
LCCI president said that Pakistan cannot reap the benefit of GSP Plus status. He said that pharmaceutical sector is also facing huge troubles in connection with the bulk export. He also drew the attention of Federal Secretary Commerce towards Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) saying that partner countries are getting more benefits than Pakistan. He said that private sector must be taken on board before signing FTAs and PTAs.
Comments
Comments are closed.