KARACHI: Mian Zahid Hussain, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum & All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan and Chairman Policy Advisory Board FPCCI, welcomed the passage of the Export Development Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2026, terming it a “DNA change” in Pakistan’s trade policy that finally acknowledges that the battle for exports cannot be won by bureaucracy alone.
He said that the inclusion of four private-sector exporters, one top non-textile exporter, one each from the agriculture, IT, and industry sectors, President FPCCI, Chairperson PBC, and six from government’s side on the EDF Board is a victory for the business community’s decade-long advocacy.
He noted that for too long, the EDF, funded by the 0.25 percent surcharge deducted directly from exporters’ hard-earned proceeds, was treated as a “bureaucratic slush fund” often utilized for administrative overheads along with genuine market access and R&D.
He further stated that approximately PKR 50 billion is currently available in the Fund. Under the EDF Act, the Federal Government may provide grants to the Fund, and the EDF Fund may also be invested to generate income, including rental income from property.
“By giving the private sector a majority say in how their own money is spent, the government has theoretically aligned the fund’s interests with national export targets,” Mian Zahid Hussain remarked. “However, the true success of this Act depends entirely on the transparency of the selection process.”
The veteran business leader highlighted potential complications that could derail the Act’s objectives, he warned against the risk of “Elite Capture,” where the seats reserved for top exporters are monopolized by a few politically connected conglomerates, leaving the SME sector—which requires EDF support the most—voiceless.
He cited the recent controversy regarding the Rs 15 billion allocation to a single sector, which drew backlash from other industries, as a preview of the “inter-sectoral conflicts” that could arise if the Board’s composition is not balanced and transparent.
Mian Zahid Hussain outlined critical demands to ensure the Act’s success that the Ministry of Commerce must publish clear, data-driven metrics for selecting the “top exporters” to the Board, ensuring no political appointees slide into these technical seats and, the “non-textile” and “emerging sector” seats must be empowered to veto projects that purely favour established giants, ensuring funds flow to diversification efforts in IT, pharmaceuticals, and engineering, moreover a third-party performance audit of all EDF-funded projects must be made mandatory, with the power to cut funding for initiatives that fail to show tangible export growth.
Mian Zahid Hussain highlighted that the Chairman of the EDF Board should be an elected representative of the entire business community rather than an individual representing a particular export sector.
He stated that the President of FPCCI is the only elected representative of the whole business community, including large, medium, small, and women enterprises. He further urged the Federal Government to disclose a clear mechanism for the allocation of EDF funds, particularly after the abolition of the Export Development Surcharge.
“The business community is cautiously optimistic,” Mian Zahid Hussain concluded. “We have won the legislation; now we must win the implementation.
If the proposed EDF Board is operated on professional grounds, and attention is paid to the features of the district, sectoral economy, and modern global trade, this law will become the ‘war room’ for genuine exporters and the country will achieve the export target of 60 billion dollars.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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