Govt should work on providing support, training to export-oriented sectors so they can realise full potential offered.
ISLAMABAD: The grant of GSP Plus status by the European Union to Pakistan should provide a much-needed boost to the country’s exports and the government deserves praise and acknowledgement for this achievement. The finance minister is of the view that the GSP Plus status would earn the country much-needed foreign exchange. However, we should remember that a lot of work still needs to be done before Pakistan can fully reap the benefits of this concession. In this regard, the government has to increase awareness of the benefits that can be availed as a result of this development and thereafter provide an environment that is conducive to export growth. From media reports, it seems the status only applies to the textile sector, which is not true since exports of around 2,000 products could be potentially affected.
The government should work on providing support and training to export-oriented sectors so that they can successfully realise the greater potential offered by the increased access to European markets. Furthermore, the billions being wasted in the name of the Youth Loan Programme (ostensibly to launch Maryam Nawaz’s political career) would have been better spent if the government provided reasonable loans to prospective exporters of non-traditional products to Europe under the GSP Plus programme.
Finally, the government has to focus on ensuring proper infrastructure and institutional support to exporters in all sectors. In the presence of an acute shortage of electricity, gas, skilled manpower, modern equipment and simplified procedures, rhetoric alone is not going to take us far.
Raja Shafaatullah
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2013.
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