This is with reference to an item of the news titled "NA body takes ministry to task on exports, other matters", which appeared in Business Recorder on 26th February 2020. The Ministry of Commerce would like to clarify its position.
"Regarding inviting the international buyers to Pakistan instead of holding meetings in Dubai and London, it is clarified that these meetings are private business transactions which are conducted by buyers and sellers from the private sector. It is not the policy of the Government of Pakistan to interfere in the private business transactions. For its part, the Government always endeavours to invite foreign buyers to Pakistan, of which EXPO and TEXPO Pakistan are the examples.
"It is also not correct that Pakistan's exports are going down as overall Pakistan's seven-months' exports from July 2019 to January 2020 have shown an upward trend, growing from USD 13.2billion to USD 13.5 billion. This is even more significant when seen in the context of regional scenario where the exports of our competitors are decreasing. This is a testament to the enterprising ability of Pakistan's exporters. It may be noted here that Pakistani exports are affected by a number of factors all of which are not in the control of the Ministry of Commerce.
"The impression created by the news item that Africa is a not a significant market is a figment of imagination of the scribe and was printed by your esteemed daily without verifying the facts. Had this been done, it would have been revealed that Africa is a fast growing economy with a collective GDP of USD 2.45 trillion which is projected to grow by 4.1 percent in 2020. The annual global trade of Africa's is approximately USD 1.075 trillion. The Ministry of Commerce's "Look Africa Policy Initiative" was launched in August 2017, which is reflective of Pakistan broader policy towards Africa. Under this Initiative, African countries prioritized for trade promotion are: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Senegal and Ethiopia, being top ten Economies of Africa. These ten countries comprise 76% of the total GDP of Africa.
"The Expo centres are run on a professional basis and are used for domestic as well as international exhibition. Also, the Ministry of Commerce has revised the selection policy of Trade Officers in 2019 and selection process has been completed on merit.
"The Ministry of Commerce has advertised the post for Chairman, State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) twice but no suitable candidate could be selected. Subsequently, the Establishment and Finance Divisions have been requested for appointment of an officer BS 21/22 officer as Chairman SLIC during the interim period till appointment of a regular Chairman.
"The Ministry of Commerce did not mislead or misreport any figures in the meeting rather it was due to the difference in sources of the trade statistics. The figures presented were obtained from the ITC-Trade Map which are on annual basis whereas the data obtained from the FBR is based on Pakistan's financial year July-June. The ITC-Trade Map is a joint multilateral agency of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)."
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