ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Commerce Muhammad Pervaiz Malik said that for making Pakistan a stronger economy, a rapid increase in exports was vital and urged that the private sector should focus on improving the competitiveness and quality of products.
He was addressing the local business community after inaugurating International Trade and Research Centre at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). He said though Pakistan’s exports were now improving the country was still facing exports deficit of $3 billion every month compared to imports. He said that government was revising FTAs with other countries including China to further improve Pakistan’s trade with foreign countries.
Pervaiz Malik said that cost of production in Pakistan was high and the government was making efforts to bring down the cost of electricity in order to reduce production cost so that business activities and exports could flourish. He congratulated ICCI for establishing International Trade and Research Centre and hoped that it would be beneficial for the economy and the business community.
ICCI President Sheikh Amir Waheed said that the business community was making strong efforts to promote Pakistan’s trade and exports and stressed that the government should fully support them in such pursuits. Highlighting the objectives of International Trade and Research Centre, he said that four new cells have been setup under this Centre. He said International Trade Development Cell would facilitate the business community in promoting foreign trade.
CPEC Facilitation Cell would facilitate prospective investors in making investments and joint ventures in various CPEC projects. Training and Capacity Building Cell would help the business community in promoting business through providing them trainings and building their capacity. Similarly, Women Business Growth Cell would facilitate the women startups and existing women entrepreneurs in better growth of businesses.
