Pakistan launches national priority sectors export strategy

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP)  on Friday unveiled the National Priority Sectors Export Strategy (NPSES) for Pakistan to achieve the country’s ambition of growing its trade.

The comprehensive strategy was launched by the Federal Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar.

The NPSES addresses constraints and specific steps to avail concrete opportunities in a comprehensive manner and are an integral part of Pakistan’s Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF). It provides Pakistan with a set of sectoral and functional strategies, each specifying priorities and actions to improve trade performance.

Five-year (2023-2027) sector strategies developed under the NPSES are the result of an extensive consultative process between public and private-sector stakeholders. Implementing these strategies would mean strengthening and diversifying Pakistan’s economy, more jobs, higher investment opportunities, and improved competitiveness of exports.

It may be noted that the International Trade Centre (ITC) worked with the government of Pakistan with financial support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK government through the revenue mobilisation, investment and trade programme (ReMIT) to support the development of the Strategy.

Priority sectors and functions in the strategy include engineering goods, leather, processed food and beverages, fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, pharmaceuticals, software development and services, business process outsourcing, logistics and institutional coordination.

To continue keeping the private sector in the driving seat for the implementation process, the National Export Development Board, sector advisory councils, as well as a STPF coordination unit are being set up.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said the government had taken a series of initiatives to promote exports to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and improvement in the living standard of the people of Pakistan.

He said the strategy is in line with government objectives and policies and promised to work with all stakeholders to use the opportunities that the NPSES provides in creating jobs and new opportunities for Pakistan.

Andrew Dalgleish British Acting High Commissioner said that the FCDO was proud to support programmes like ReMIT that focus on supporting Pakistan to strengthen institutional capacity for trade policy formulation and to address trade barriers.

It is pertinent to mention here that through development of Pakistan’s National Priority Sectors Export Strategy and capacity building of the Ministry of Commerce, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Trade Development Authority (TDAP), the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC), and business associations and groups, the programme will support formulation and reform of trade policies, including addressing some of the main barriers to trade. These efforts will reflect public-private consensus.

The project will also build business associations’ capacity for advocacy, including women entrepreneurs.