Ministry of Commerce refutes categorically the said article, which relies entirely upon hearsay and innuendo. The said article conveys false and unsubstantiated opinion. Established in 1992, Export Development Fund (EDF) was meant to "strengthen and develop infrastructure for promotion of exports" and to provide for connected and incidental matters of exports.
Export Development Surcharge (EDS), a nominal levy of 0.25% collected on exports remains the principal financial source for the Fund which is mainly utilised in an effort to achieve objectives stipulated in Section (4) of EDF Act which include: Establishment of training institutes for export oriented trading and industrial sectors; Market and product Development; Subsidising participation in exhibitions abroad; Research and Development; Publicity; Establishment and maintenance of display centers and Support to export services.
The Fund is administered by a Board comprising members from both public and private sector. The Board's composition ensures representation of entire export sector however; exporter's associations from such sectors are rotated annually so that all important associations may have a fair chance to be on Board. This means, for instance, textile sector shall always be an integral part of EDF Board however; in one year it will be represented by one set of exporter's associations of textile sector but by another cluster of textile exporter's associations next year. Hence, different exporter's associations continue to represent their relevant sector each year on EDF Board.
Since its inception, the Fund had remained one of the main contributors towards export base diversification, supply side infrastructure development, capacity building of export-oriented industry, skill development and increase in Pakistan's export competitiveness.
Over PKR 6.5 billion has so far been utilised, from time to time for targeted and temporary strategic interventions in the form of market and product development subsidies which translates into approximately 35% of the entire funding from EDF amounting to PKR 18.5 billion. The targeted export subsidies are a globally accepted instrument employed by the governments around the globe to make strategic interventions for diversifying, supporting and safeguarding the export sectors and sub-sectors.
EDF has also contributed vitally towards not only development but maintenance of a solid conduit of talented and dexterous workforce required for the export oriented industries.
Twenty two (22) skill development institutes have been established and maintained with a total funding of over PKR 2.7 billion (14.5% of entire amount spent by EDF so far).
Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Lahore, Textile Institute of Pakistan Karachi, SMA Rizvi Institute Karachi, and Leather Product Development Institute, Sialkot is a few successfully functional institutes to name. All of these twenty two institutes are developing the human resource feeding into a broad range of export sectors eg textiles, garments, leather, jewellery, bed-wear designing, fan, cutlery, carpet, marble and footwear etc.
On the marketing side, the EDF has financed initiatives worth over PKR 1.2 billion (7% of EDF spending) for development and maintenance of display and exhibit infrastructure in Pakistan. The state-of-the-art expo centers in Karachi and Lahore have virtually revolutionised the trade fair sector in Pakistan. Establishment of similar expo centers in Peshawar and Quetta is also in pipeline. Business and trade centre Sialkot and export display centre in Gujrat are also among other centers playing important role. A large number of trade fairs, organised mainly by the private sector, have snowballed into international events providing a meeting platform for the international buyers and sellers. The entire development of the trade fair industry in Pakistan is due to the availability of the exhibit infrastructure / expo centers.
Over PKR 1 billion has been utilised for publicity and market development at international level which translates into 6% of the entire funding from EDF so far. Expo 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, life style Pakistan organised in India in 2012, Exhibition of Pakistani Products in India, Trade fair of engineering goods in Germany, Single country exhibition in Srilanka are few exhibitions organised in past. Besides, EDF has also supported IDEAS 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016 organised by Defense Export Promotion Organisation. TEXPO Pakistan and road shows in central Asian counties have been success stories to name a few. Expo 2017 is under consideration too.
Remaining 37% of EDF funds have also made valuable contribution towards value chain improvements, standardisation of export products, up gradation of export-oriented units to the international standards and enabling the industries to meet the mandatory social and environmental compliance standards of the global market. The export infrastructure developed through these funds includes the establishment of garment cities across the country, laboratories, common facility centre for fresh fruits and vegetables processing, R&D centers in various chambers and associations, child labour elimination program in soccer ball industry and Fisheries Cluster Development Program. Establishment of Tannery Zone in Sialkot is also an important project under implementation phase.
The Fund provides financial assistance for those initiatives only which have a direct bearing on the improvement of infrastructure for export sector. The projects are proposed by trade bodies representing the export sector; the project appraisal, monitoring and evaluation are made on a standard format and the accounts are audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan through Federal Audit.
To conclude, the Export Development Fund has been playing an important role in the development of infrastructure for our export sector. However, the EDF Board has decided to bring further improvement in its utilisation which would be witnessed in the years to come.