KARACHI: Chairman All Pakistan Shipping Association (APSA) Aasim Siddiqui, hosted a lunch in honour of the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Senator Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari. Chairman Port Qasim Authority, Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah (retd) was also present along with other APSA members and office bearers.

The minister lauded the efforts of the APSA members and acknowledged the important role of ports and shipping industry and its contribution to the national economy of Pakistan. On behalf of APSA, Aasim Siddiqui thanked the minister for taking out time for this meeting and appreciated his efforts towards the betterment of the shipping industry.

Siddiqui highlighted that the shipping industry holds great importance for Pakistan as more than 95 perceny of our trade is done through sea and there is hardly a domain of life left that may not get an impact by the development in the shipping sector.

Presenting an overview of the industry, Aasim emphasized that since shipping serves as the backbone of the all trade and business activities in the country, there is an urgent need to review the Pakistan Merchant Marine Policy in consultation with stakeholders from the industry as it is the primary tool to channelize the efforts and developments to uplift the Economy of Pakistan. He requested the Minister to consider the policy matrix and suggestions proposed by APSA for the amendments in the current policy.

Siddiqui also urged the Minister to use his good offices for the passing of Shipping Laws that are pending with the Ministry for the last 15 years. He further informed that APSA is also working upon a comprehensive proposal on the ‘Roadmap for Developing Shipping Service Industry’ which will serve as an objective oriented document from the main stakeholders of the industry.

Chairman APSA also drew attention of the Federal Minister towards the opportunities and potential available in the area of trans-shipment of cargo from Pakistani ports to central Asian countries as this can be a game-changer for the economy of Pakistan with very minimal investment of time and resources. The only need is to formalize commercially favourable policies to enable public-private ventures possible for trans-shipments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022