ISLAMABAD: In follow-up of the Prime Minister’s constitution of the Committee on ‘tariff rationalisation for export-led growth’, the Ministry of Commerce convened the third meeting of the Committee today, chaired by the Minister for Commerce.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Finance, representatives from ministry of Industries & Production, ministry of Finance, National Tariff Commission, Federal Board of Revenue, Engineering Development Board, senior officers from the ministry of Commerce and subject experts including Dr Manzoor Ahmad, Dr Azam Choudhry, Professor Stefan Dercon, Rubina Athar, Muhammad Jamil Nasir, Dr Imtiaz Ahmad and Dr Mahmood Khalid.

Earlier, during the first meeting of the Prime Minister’s constituted Committee held on 15th July, 2024 two Sub-Committees had been created.

TORs assigned by the Prime Minister office to the Committee were equally divided between the two Sub-Committees, which held independent meetings for finalising their recommendations on the assigned TORs.

Final recommendations were presented in the second meeting of the main Committee held on 31st July 2024.

As a follow-up of the second meeting, the third meeting of the main Committee was held today with further refined recommendations for final decisions.

During the meeting, participants emphasised the need for tariff reforms to drive export-led growth.

The Minister for Commerce underscored the significance of this exercise for the country's economy and exports.

The Committee reached a consensus on the need for the said reforms in the short, medium, and long term.

Besides tariff reforms, key areas of focus of the committee included quantifying the impact of internal taxes at the import stage, identifying distortions in trade and addressing gaps and discrepancies in policies restricting export-led growth.

The decisions made during the meeting will be forwarded to the Prime Minister's office for further action.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024