SDPI session ‘Incentive schemes for export-oriented industry benefited only big players’

ISLAMABAD: Commerce Secretary, Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui on Wednesday acknowledged that the government’s incentive schemes for export-oriented industry benefited only the big players in the past.

He was addressing the session titled a roadmap for sustainable and inclusive trade and investment, organized by the SDPI in collaboration with International Trade Centre (ITC).

The proceedings of the session were moderated by Huma Fakhar, CEO and Founder Map Capital and Soultana Rice.

Secretary Commerce shared his views on impact of Covid-19 on international trade and increase in Pakistan’s exports which reached $25.5 billion in 2020-21. He said Commerce Ministry had started analyzing the impact of incentive schemes extended under Commerce Ministry and/or State Bank of Pakistan.

“We have started analyzing the government’s support schemes for the export sectors given in the past and the conclusion is very clear that these schemes worked for the country but only for big players,” he said, adding that now the country of this size should extend support to small and medium industry, women enterprises and non-traditional sectors.

Faruqi maintained the government has tackled more than half of the steel chain, textile chain, chemicals and others this year but next year’s priority areas would be agriculture including agro-processing, logistics and packaging. He said, now the new Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) was taking care of all those sectors which were not given priority in the past.

According to him government was now trying to connect exports with the regional countries for which Transit and Trade Agreement had been signed with Uzbekistan which would be operational at the end of the current month whereas negotiations with countries like Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan etc. were at an advanced stage.

He said progress was slow but steady, adding that focus was also now on product diversification. Geographical Indication (GI) is in place and all regional products have been registered under this law.

Secretary Commerce maintained that huge exercise of tariff rationalization had been done and tariff of more than 4,000 tariff lines had been readjusted. He also mentioned impact of TIR regime on regional trade.

Secretary, Board of Investment (BoI), Fareena Mazhar shared an update on measures taken and announced by the government to facilitate local and international investors. She however, argued that attraction of foreign investment was the responsibility of the entire government and not only BoI. She gave examples of different counties where investment has declined due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Others who spoke through video-link were Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang, Deputy DG, WTO, Geneva, Marion Janson, Director, Trade and Agriculture, Directorate, OECD, Dorothy Tembo, Deputy ED, ITC, Geneva and Dr Mohammad Saeed, Senior Advisor (Trade Facilitation), ITC.

Geneva Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang, Deputy DG, WTO, Geneva, urged Pakistani government to impart training to Pakistani women entrepreneurs adding that he had given training to Chinese women entrepreneurs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021