Senate panel proposes cargo airline service

The Senate Standing Committee on Commerce on Friday proposed a cargo airline service under the postal services ministry to improve the transportation of products within the country and sending them abroad.

Chairing the committee meeting, Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi also suggested to the government to establish industrial zones near Pakistan-Afghanistan border and improve the trade and textile policy in consultation with the business community representatives.

The meeting discussed the issues of public importance raised by Senator Noman Wazir Khattak in the Senate session on January 14 and the question raised by Senator Talha Mahmood on January 21 about the performance of commercial counsellors and trade officers posted in embassies and missions abroad.

Besides efforts for increasing exports, Pakistan-Afghanistan transit and issues related to trade and value-addition were also discussed in the meeting. At the outset, Afridi commended recent legislation on increasing access to overseas markets for the Pakistani products.

During the meeting, Senator Afridi pointed out that there was a lack of logistics for the delivery of Pakistani products. He said that Pakistan had $4 billion logistics business capacity but the available infrastructure could cater to only $1 billion logistics services.

He suggested that a cargo airline, managed by the ministry of postal services, should be introduced to improve the transportation of the products. He asked the commerce Ministry to give its suggestions in this regard. Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce Razak Dawood promised to consider the proposal.

Responding to a question from a committee member, Dawood said that the country’s exports increased by 14% on year-on-year basis by February and “this trend of improvement in exports continued” till March 15.

However, he added, the exports declined in the following months as a result of the lockdown caused by the coronavirus. “Overall, exports have declined by 6.8% this year, but the ratio is lower than India and Bangladesh where exports declined by 17 and 14%, respectively,” he added. “In the first 15 days of July, the trend of increasing exports has started.”

Afridi also pointed to the problems related to the Afghan transit trade. The government should take concrete steps in this regard as soon as possible, he said. Dawood replied that progress had been made in this regard and not only transit trade but also bilateral trade with Afghanistan would improve.

Afridi said that it would be in the interest of both Pakistan and Afghanistan to establish industrial zones near the border between the two countries. Dawood said that the ministry was also ready to provide assistance for the development of industries in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Dawood said that Afghanistan had been allowed to send its products to India through the Wagah border, adding that coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) were being eased at the borders to clear Afghan transit trade and bilateral trade goods.

He informed the committee that duties on 2,000 tariff lines had been abolished, while duties on 5,000 tariff lines would be abolished within two years. He said that the government wanted to increase bilateral trade with Afghanistan.

“There are many problems in the Afghan transit trade, the adviser told the lawmakers. “The Afghan transit trade agreement is coming to an end in June next year. We want to start negotiations before the agreement expires,” he said.

Afridi said that trade officers stationed abroad should ensure publicity through local media to improve the markets for Pakistani products. He suggested for reducing duties on local industries and providing opportunities to the foreign investors to set up industries in the country.

Committee member Zeeshan Khanzada said that better results could be achieved through reducing taxes on raw materials and other related items. He said that commercial counsellors and trade officers posted abroad should play their role in increasing the export of Pakistani products.

On the occasion, the commerce secretary gave a detailed briefing to the committee on the performance of the trade officers posted abroad. The secretary informed the committee that the ministry was taking several steps to improve Pakistan exports.