Delayed: Traders wait as govt yet to issue policy notification

Facilitation steps related to import, export, subsidy could not be taken so far.

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce has yet to issue notifications to pave the way for implementation of the newly announced Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2015-18, though 10 days have passed since its approval and announcement.

A source in the ministry told The Express Tribune that notifications pertaining to import policy, export policy and subsidy payment under the strategic framework were pending.

In the latter half of March, the government had announced the trade policy framework after a long wait of more than nine months. It set an ambitious export target of $35 billion by 2018.

Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir committed at that time that relevant notifications would be issued immediately keeping in view the fact that the policy had already been delayed. He also said the government had allocated the required funds and made the homework to swiftly implement the policy.

However, the business community is anxiously waiting for the release of notifications to press on with their trade plans.

“Such bureaucratic delays have destroyed our system,” commented a businessman who visited the commerce ministry to know about the status of the policy.

A senior commerce ministry officer, who is directly concerned with the strategic trade policy, said they were working with other ministries concerned and would soon release official notifications to allow imports and exports under the new policy.

“We have sent draft notifications to the Ministry of Law for vetting and will issue them once they are returned,” said the officer.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Regional Standing Committee on Horticulture Exports Chairman Ahmad Jawad urged the commerce ministry to start implementing the policy immediately so that private sector could frame strategies and business plans accordingly.

He also underlined the need for restructuring the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board and other related departments to enable the horticulture sector to play a vital role in enhancing the country’s exports.

He suggested that for achieving economic stability Pakistan needed $150 billion in export earnings in the next nine to ten years and that could be made possible through timely execution of policies.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st,  2016.

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