Raza Khan

During the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year (2022-23), the United States, China and the United Kingdom remained Pakistan’s top export destinations. During the said period, Pakistan’s exports to them accounted for 34% of the country’s total exports, according to Economic Survey of Pakistan. The Economic Survey of Pakistan released by the Ministry of Finance showed that the US remained Pakistan’s largest export destination during July-March FY23. At least 19% of Pakistan’s total exports during the period under review were bound to the US against 21% during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Exports to the US were recorded at Rs924.9 billion during the period under review.

Exports to China were recorded at 8% of total Pakistan’s exports during the first nine months of FY23 compared to 10% during the corresponding period of last year. The volume of exports to China remained Rs380.5 billion during the period under review. Share in exports to UK rose from 2% during July-March 2021-22 to 7% during the same period of the current fiscal year, with export volume of PKR337.1 billion. Pakistan’s exports to Germany accounted for 6% of the country’s total exports during the period under review against 7% during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Share in exports to Spain rose from 4% to 5%, while exports to Italy accounted for 4% of the country’s total exports this year against 3% during FY22.

Exports to the UAE accounted for 5% of Pakistan’s total exports during the period under review, while 4% of exports were bound for Afghanistan. Exports to Bangladesh and France were recorded at 3% and 2% of the total exports, respectively. According to the Economic Survey, the government has been taking steps to boost exports to traditional and non-traditional markets and also to diversify the exports.

In order to boost exports to the Chinese market, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on e-commerce was signed in November 2022. After successful completion of Pest Risk Analysis by the Chinese experts, China has allowed the import of cherries from Pakistan in November, 2022. The Ministry of Finance said that Pakistan and Türkiye signed the Trade in Goods Agreement on August 12, 2022 in Islamabad. Under the agreement, Pakistan has received concessions in 261 tariff lines and has extended concessions to Türkiye on 130 tariff lines.

Pakistan has gained market access in traditional sectors such as leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, and sports goods; and non-traditional products/sectors include seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber tubes and tyres, plastics, and engineering goods. According to the Ministry of Finance, the agreement on international road transport between Pakistan and Russia was signed in November 2022, which provides a framework for the movement of passengers and goods trade between the two countries through road links. Total trade between Pakistan and Russia stood at $761 million during July-March FY23. The balance of trade was in favour of Russia with a negative trade balance of $651 million.

The Ministry of Finance said that following its exit from the European Union, the UK gave a firm commitment to Pakistan that it will continue to grant similar market access to Pakistani products which it enjoys under the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus regime.The UK government launched its Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) on August 16, 2022 after an eight-week public consultation in which Pakistan also participated. On coming into effect around April 2023, the DCTS will replace the current UK GSP.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk