ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said on Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly brought a change in the world, but the situation also presents an opportunity for the local businesses to reshape their models.
Dawood said this while chairing a meeting of the Ministry of Commerce’s Think Tank on Covid-19, which met to explore strategies to mitigate the effects of the virus on exports.
“There is a need to be innovative, both domestically and internationally, to explore the opportunities. This is imperative to not only sustain our share in traditional markets and products but also to explore new avenues, especially in services sectors,” the adviser stated.
He highlighted that the present government was focused on taking care of the core export sectors, besides facilitating the emerging sectors. He said that diversification, economies of scales, competitiveness, technology up-gradation, tariff rationalization and influx domestic and international investment were among the main priorities of the government, adding that the industry would see major policy initiatives in the upcoming budget.
The industry representatives acknowledged the steps taken by the government in the last year and a half, saying that prudent measures had started paying the dividends before the disruption created by the Covid-19 crisis. They proposed that the facilitative measures to decrease the cost of doing business should be accompanied with steps that could address the liquidity issues faced by the industry, especially the export sector.
They also lauded the briefing given by Dawood on steps taken by the government to encourage local production, as these would not only arrest deindustrialization but also bring new investments, especially from the local players.
The businessmen shared innovative ideas to encourage domestic manufacturing and highlighted various tariff anomalies in different sectors.
The credit availability schemes to further facilitate the export sectors and the non-traditional sectors were also discussed.
The industry representatives recognized the central role played by Abdul Razak Dawood in the formulation of Pakistan’s first-ever Mobile Phone Manufacturing Policy and requested that similar measures may be taken for other sectors as well.
Appreciating the ideas put forth by the members of the think tank, the adviser said that Pakistan needs innovative approaches for rapid growth by increasing its share in international as well as domestic markets. The industry representatives vowed to come up more proposals within a week after consulting stakeholders in different sectors.
The think tank comprises commerce secretary, additional secretary (trade diplomacy), director general (textiles) and leading industrialists from various sectors.
