PTI govt prioritising ‘Make in Pakistan’ policy

Abdul Razzak Dawood says tariff structure will be changed to promote local production

ISLAMABAD: The government has prioritised the “Make in Pakistan” policy in the current challenging times following the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan in a bid to step up exports to international markets, remarked Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.

“We are fully prepared to exploit the economic and trade opportunities, expected after the Covid-19 pandemic subsides, by increasing production in order to promote locally made products in global markets,” the adviser told APP on Tuesday.

“We perceive and expect more opportunities to increase bilateral trade and strengthen linkages with potential markets including the European Union, China, Central Asian states, the Middle East and African region.”

He added that the world had completely changed after the pandemic and government’s economic team was keenly observing the situation to meet the post-coronavirus challenges on the economic and trade fronts.

He emphasised that business processes would be completely different after Covid-19 was eradicated and difficult times, such as the current one, always led to new opportunities, new products and new ways of thinking.

Keeping in view the new realities and a paradigm shift in international trade, Dawood termed it the golden opportunity for Pakistan to pursue the “Make in Pakistan” policy.

He stressed that Pakistan must move towards manufacturing of its own products rather than importing goods.

Talking about duties, the adviser said the Ministry of Commerce was working on making changes in the tariff structure in the upcoming fiscal year aimed at facilitating local production.

He emphasised that such a step was necessary to shift towards local manufacturing so that “Make in Pakistan” policy could be implemented successfully.

“The government wants to reduce customs duty on raw material and document non-tax businesses to bring them to the tax net,” he said.

He said Pakistan’s trade with different regions had increased with exports to the Middle East rising 36% and Africa by 10% while exports to Central Asian states, especially Uzbekistan, were also on the rise.

Replying to a question, Dawood said the government was equally focusing on all sectors of the economy including textile, non-textile, agriculture and engineering to build export potential of the country in the coming months. Talking about the external trade situation, he said in the past 10 months (Jul-Apr FY20), exports had declined 4% compared to the corresponding period of previous year.  

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2020.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.