ISLAMABAD: Secretary for Commerce, Sualeh Ahmad Faruqi said on Monday that industry in Sindh was not being supplied gas due to closure of one gas field and the Commerce Ministry was examining the situation very closely.
He was replying to a question raised at a meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Commerce, presided over Zeshan Khanzada.
The Secretary for Commerce said that export figures of outgoing financial year including June 2021 were very good, adding that last year’s exports were on the lower side due to Covid-19. He said Pakistan’s exports to China, Afghanistan and Europe were excellent.
The Secretary for Commerce while briefing the committee stated that the summary on five-year Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) was with the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, whereas Textile Policy had already been approved.
He informed the Committee that for the first time domestic commerce policy was being prepared, the draft of which was being given final touches.
The Secretary for Commerce briefed the Committee that implementation on Textile Policy had begun and now separate framework for every sector was being prepared. He said services sector was now an independent sector, adding the sector was not even registered with TDAP. He said, presently, services sector was showing impressive progress and deals with Amazon were in progress and all businesses could get registered with Amazon.
Senator Salim Mandviwala said the country’s exports were still at the level of 2013, adding Pakistan was at the same level even after passage of seven years while Bangladesh exports were more than Pakistan’s.
“Pakistan’s export potential is $100 billion but unfortunately we are discussing policies even today,” he said, questioning why Pakistan’s exports had gone down.
The Secretary for Commerce replied that Pakistan had never reached the level of its competitors in exports in the past.
Chairman Standing Committee, Zeshan Khanzada urged the Commerce Advisor and Secretary Commerce to give briefing on export prospects and reasons for poor performance.
Senator Mirza Afridi said that water was the key issue in agriculture, requesting any committee’s report or suggestion be shared with the Commerce Committee, which should suggest resolution of this fundamental issue. He maintained that water availability for agriculture was less but its wastage was on the higher side.
The Secretary for Commerce said that water issue was related to federation and provinces, adding the issue could be looked into if it was related to industry or the Ministry.
Senator Palwasha Khan raised the issue of relocation of industry. She said that media reports suggested that some industries were planning to relocate out of Pakistan.
The Secretary for Commerce said that a Karachi-based Association had issued such a statement due to gas crisis, acknowledging that gas was not being supplied to industries in Karachi and the government was looking into it.
Prime Minister Advisor on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood briefed the Committee that at one time industry was going down in the country, exports were down and imports were on higher side but the Commerce Ministry prepared STPF and presented it to the prime minister and also increased the range of exported goods.
He said non-traditional items were being given preference over traditional products which also included food processing and IT sectors.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.