Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan has convened annual meeting of nearly 300-member advisory committee here on Wednesday to chalk out contours of trade policy 2005-06, an official told Business Recorder. "The commerce ministry has already asked all trade bodies and business giants to dispatch their proposals as early as possible, besides expressing views in the meeting openly," the official added. The official said withdrawal of some tax exemptions presently enjoyed by the local auto industry would also be part of the next trade policy and representatives of the auto industry would be given reasonable time to express their views.
The official further said that export target for the next fiscal would be around $14.65 billion as the country's textile sector was in comfortable position to compete with other countries.
Senior joint secretary Yasin Tahir has started initial work on the trade policy and a few meetings have already been held in the commerce ministry with CBR chairman Abdullah Yousuf to prepare recommendation for resolving tax-related problems being faced by the business community.
The commerce minister has also called a meeting of his ministry's officials to finalise government's strategy to respond to possible queries of the business community in the advisory committee meeting, the official maintained.