Cabinet excludes name of Shandana

The federal cabinet has excluded the name of Shandana Gulzar Khan, Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Textile, from Board of Export Development Fund (EDF), well-informed sources told Business Recorder. The Commerce Division had recommended M/s Shahdana, a former consultant of Commerce Ministry, with the purported blessings of Abdul Razak Dawood, the PM Advisor on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Production and Investment but the proposal could not sail in the cabinet meeting held last week.
The EDF was established through resolution on September 1, 1992. Subsequently, the Act called the "Export Development Fund (EDF), Act, 1999" describing aims and objectives, administration, board of administrators, their functions, powers, committee, funding and audit, etc, was passed, which was duly published in the Gazette of Pakistan on July 31, 1999.
The Board of Administrators of the EDF is constituted under section 5 of the EDF Act, 1999. There is a mandatory requirement under section 5 of EDF Act 1999, that the EDF Board must have at least 13 members, ie, 9 ex-officio members 1 Parliamentarian (to be nominated by the Commerce Minister) and 3 from private sector.
In addition to 13 members, section 5(2) provides that the federal government may appoint additional members as and when considered necessary. Section 6(1) further clarifies that the persons appointed members from the private sector shall preferably be from among the presidents of the associations and chambers and each one shall hold office for one year from the date of notification. The one-year term of 10 members from private sector notified last year expired on May 31, 2018. Since the establishment of the EDF, parliamentarian and members from private sector in the Board of Administrators have been appointed by the Commerce Minister, being the Chairman of EDF Board.
The Commerce Division has proposed nomination of following parliamentarians and private sector persons as members of Board of Administrators for one year under section 5(1)&(2) and 6 of EDF Act 1999 ;(i) Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA-member; (ii) Mohammad Ai Taba, Chairman Pakistan Business Council (PPBC)- Member; (iii) Safdar Hussain Mehkri, Chairman REAP - Member; (iv) Zahid Saeed, Chairman, Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association-Member; (v) Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Production and Investment - Member; (vi) Ijaz Khokhar, ex-Chairman, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufa-cturers and Exporters Assoc-iation-Member; (vii) Jawad Bilwani, Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association - Member; (viii) Almas Hyder, President LCCI- Member and; (ix) Mian Shaiq Javed, ex-Chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association.