The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) director general (DG) said Central Asia is a suitable market for Pakistani exports.

“There is a huge untapped potential for exporting Pakistani products in this region. The TDAP is going to hold a single country exhibition in Tashkent, Uzbekistan,” DG Naseer Ahmed said at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). He said the authority would organize exhibitions in non-traditional potential markets for Pakistan’s exports.

LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir and Vice President Haris Ateeq also spoke at the meeting. The TDAP DG said the authority will organize the OIC trade fair with a theme of Women Entrepreneurs Development in June 2023.

The ambassadors of the OIC member states, along with women entrepreneurs, will attend the event. He said the TDAP is also going to hold an event in Indonesia by December this year. The delegations from ASEAN countries will participate in the event, he added.

He said the TDAP is planning to organize an I-Tech grand expo in Lahore in March 2023. “It is going to be the first of its kind, first services sector export promotion exhibition in Pakistan. The purpose is to highlight potential of IT sector of Pakistan,” he said.  He said such an event will also be held in South Africa.  

He lauded the LCCI role in the promotion of exports and said it had cooperated in holding seminars and webinars or providing any document or data reports required by the TDAP.

LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said they had succeeded in getting approval of more than $100,000 funding from the Export Development Fund (EDF) for business delegation to the USA.

He expected that the visit of the delegation would enhance the exports of our value-added products by more than $5 million. He stressed the need to collaborate for more initiatives in the form of planning business delegations and participating in international trade fairs in Africa, Russia, South America and Central Asia.

This would help in achieving market diversification in exports as around 65% of Pakistan’s exports go to just 10 countries. “We need better handholding from the TDAP to promote the export competitiveness of the SME sector of Pakistan and help them market their products in international markets,” he said. It should be worrisome for the private sector and the Ministry of Commerce that in the financial year 2021-22, the trade deficit stood in excess of $48 billion – 55pc higher than the same period the previous year, he said.

Mr Kabir said it’s a matter of concern that most of export revenues come from few sectors like textiles, rice and leather. He called for diversifying exports, with more focus on sectors like Halal food, pharmaceuticals, information technology, engineering industry, surgical instruments and sport goods.

He said the TDAP could play an effective role in taking full advantage of the preferential and free trade agreements which Pakistan had signed with some countries. There is a need to revisit strategy in such cases where Pakistan had started facing greater trade deficit after signing agreements with some countries, he added.

LCCI Vice President Haris Ateeq said the TDAP should keep a liaison with Pakistan’s commercial counselors based in the potential countries and make sure that market intelligence reports get regularly disseminated among the business community.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk