Raza Khan

The Government of Pakistan has launched the National Priority Sectors Export Strategy (NPSES) to enhance international trade, while enabling its industry to do business following modern practices, the Ministry of Commerce said. Ahmed Mujtaba Memon, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce, told WealthPK that the five-year (2023-2027) NPSES was formulated after consultative process between public and private-sector stakeholders.

“The purpose of the strategy is to minimize restrictions and avail opportunities in a comprehensive manner to boost international trade,” Memon said.

Priority sectors and functions in the strategy include engineering goods, leather, processed food and beverages, fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, pharmaceuticals, software development and services, business process outsourcing, logistics and institutional coordination, the official said.

Memon further elaborated that the aim of the program is to strengthen and diversify Pakistan’s economy, create more jobs, achieve higher investment opportunities, and improve competitiveness of exports. He added that the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), International Trade Centre (ITC) and Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK government are the main partners to support the development of the NPSES.

Memon said international partners were supporting Pakistan to strengthen institutional capacity for trade policy formulation and to address trade barriers. He said that private sector would be a key to achieve the targets set under the strategy.

“To continue keeping the private sector in driving seat for the implementation process, the National Export Development Board (NEDB), sector advisory councils, as well as a Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) coordination unit are being set up,” he informed.

The official said the NPSES would help Pakistan transform its economy to meet the needs of its rapidly growing young population, broaden its export base and become better integrated into global value chains. He said the new program would strengthen the international presence of Pakistani products from the priority sectors.

“The project will also build business associations’ capacity for advocacy, including women entrepreneurs,” Memon said.

He said that the project was aimed to promote exports to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and improvement in the living standard of the people of Pakistan. Memon said new markets would be explored for Pakistan’s priority sectors to enhance exports. “The policy will improve the business environment for all Pakistani enterprises,” the additional secretary said.

According to a statement of the Ministry of Commerce, through development of the NPSES and capacity building of the Ministry of Commerce, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), TDAP, National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC), and business associations and groups, the program will support formulation and reform of trade policies. The NPSES aims to enable and sustain a new cycle of export growth for Pakistan, exploiting its vast untapped potential for trade and investment development, the statement added.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk