Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved a new Trade Facilitation Board and ordered urgent measures to improve port capacity and ease trade procedures.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday approved the establishment of a Trade Facilitation Board aimed at improving Pakistan’s trade supply chain and simplifying cross-border trade procedures.
The prime minister will personally chair the proposed board, which will be responsible for making decisions on non-tariff issues related to cross-border trade across the country’s trade supply chain.
The board will also develop a roadmap for promoting trade, establish a Trade Facilitation Index and formulate a strategy for monitoring progress and implementation.
Chairing a meeting on trade facilitation in Islamabad, Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities to work on improving the operational capacity of the country’s ports on an emergency basis. He also ordered the formation of different working groups to advance reforms.
According to the meeting, the working groups will focus on improving port capacity, strengthening coordination among relevant departments, ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework, expanding pre-arrival clearance and increasing the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade.
The prime minister also directed authorities to provide maximum facilities to importers and exporters by simplifying cargo delivery, clearance and other procedures at ports.
Officials briefed the meeting that port charges had been reduced as part of ongoing reforms, following which the use of ports had shown significant improvement.
The meeting was also informed that the facility for submitting goods declarations before the arrival of ships was continuing to expand.
Shehbaz Sharif stressed the need for further improvements to facilitate businesses engaged in international trade and make trade-related procedures more efficient.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahsan Khan Cheema, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Industries Haroon Akhtar, Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kiani and senior relevant government officials.
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