Adviser to the Prime Minister (APM) on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said on Sunday that the country’s exports of non-traditional products, including information technology, have increased by 60% in the last four months.
During an interview with Associated Press Pakistan (APP) – a state-run news agency – the minister said that the increase in existing exports was the result of the successful implementation of the ‘Trade Diversification Policy’ that helped find new products and increase geographical exports in the global market.
“For the last 70 years, Pakistan's exports have depended on traditional markets of ten countries, and local textiles have relied on only five markets, including the United States, China, European Union, the United Kingdom, and Bangladesh.
“However, the incumbent government is exploring new markets and introducing new products in addition to traditional ones, and has made great strides despite Covid-19.”
SMEs: Dawood hails regulatory reforms
Dawood explained that the Ministry of Commerce has recently launched the ‘Look Africa campaign’ and did a lot of work on Central Asian markets, which has resulted in higher exports.
He said that the exporters are establishing new units to promote product diversification and “to boost domestic exports in information technology, light engineering including tractors, fisheries and electronics and mobiles”.
Dawood said that the government had reduced tariffs and duties on raw materials to zero percent to increase the country’s exports.
The minister also stressed on strengthening the regional bloc in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and increasing bilateral trade activities in the regional countries.
Dawood added that Pakistan’s exports to Central Asian Republics (CARs) countries surged from $104 million in 2019-20 to $145 million in 2020-21.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.