PM Shehbaz Sharif approves new trade facilitation targets, including faster cargo clearance, expanded green channels and AI-based risk management.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chaired the first meeting of the Trade Facilitation Board and directed authorities to remove unnecessary delays, reduce business costs and take effective measures to boost exports.
The prime minister said facilitating trade and promoting business activity were among the government’s top priorities. He said the government was committed to making Pakistan an effective part of regional and global supply chains through improved trade facilitation.
Shehbaz directed relevant authorities to ensure that businesses receive coordinated services at high-volume ports through a one-window approach. He also called for greater use of joint inspections and joint profiling by different government agencies.
The prime minister ordered a comprehensive audit of all non-tariff measures and directed authorities to remove unnecessary barriers to trade. He also approved a working group to review non-tariff measures and instructed it to present a roadmap within one month for eliminating unnecessary regulations and facilitating trade.
He directed authorities to take effective measures to bring direct shipping lines to Pakistani ports, saying direct shipping would make the movement of products from Pakistani factories to international buyers faster and easier.
The prime minister also ordered the preparation of a National Trade Performance Index to measure key indicators, including cargo dwell time, customs clearance, logistics, ship clearance time, post-clearance audits and pre-clearance.
Shehbaz called for special measures to increase the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade. He directed authorities to map the different stages of the SME trade journey to identify and address the obstacles they face.
The prime minister further instructed authorities to strengthen risk management systems. He directed that controls be expanded from the pre-arrival stage to the post-release stage to speed up cargo clearance, with detailed inspections limited to high-risk cargo.
He also called for the use of artificial intelligence to make risk management more effective and accelerate trade processes.
The meeting was briefed on targets for a Time Release Automated System for all ports. The targets include achieving 30% pre-arrival clearance and increasing the share of the green channel to 65% by the end of the current fiscal year.
The government has also set a target of increasing the number of Authorized Economic Operators to more than 50 by the end of the fiscal year.
Prime Minister Shehbaz approved the targets for the Time Release Automated System for all ports.
Federal ministers Rana Tanveer Hussain, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Prime Minister’s Adviser Haroon Akhtar Khan, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani and members of the Trade Facilitation Board attended the meeting.
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