Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has said that tariff rationalisation is vital for export-led industrialisation in Pakistan and discussions will start with the relevant stakeholders next month for developing a three-year roadmap in this regard.
Chairing a meeting at the Ministry of Commerce, Dawood emphasised the importance of tariff rationalisation for improving competitiveness of domestic industry including the export sector.
He said tariff rationalisation could be made possible through duty-free access to imported raw material and intermediate goods, which would help increase employment opportunities in the country by attracting investment in the manufacturing sector.
The adviser underlined that the stakeholder consultation process should lead to a constructive roadmap for developing an export-led “Make-in-Pakistan” programme.
For increase in consumer welfare, Dawood gave directives for lessening distortion in the domestic price structure by reducing the burden of excessive protection.
He asked for removing tariff anomalies through an analysis of value chains and told the Tariff Policy Centre, National Tariff Commission to conduct detailed studies and suggest a three-year tariff rationalisation roadmap initially for iron and steel, plastic, engineering, pharmaceutical, chemical and textile sectors.
On the directive of the adviser, the National Tariff Commission is planning to undertake studies in the above-mentioned sectors for drawing up the tariff plan.
In order to formulate the plan, the tariff commission will first identify the complete value chains.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2020.
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