Govt asked to set performance indicators for envoys
Pakistan has inked Preferential Trade Agreements with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan which will provide it access to huge market of 72 million people. PHOTO: FILE
The business community has urged the government to define key performance indicators (KPIs) for the trade officers deployed in foreign countries.
Acting Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Suleman Chawla emphasised that economic diplomacy and efficiency was important in getting the desired results, adding that some peculiar situations must be exploited by the designated officers in their country of posting.
At the same time, he welcomed the 14 designated officers from different occupational groups posted in Pakistani missions overseas as consul generals, ministers, counsellors and attaches to represent trade.
He was talking to a delegation of trade and investment officers posted in Pakistani missions abroad for promoting exports and foreign direct investment. The delegation also visited the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) offices.
“When a product is produced, it needs to be marketed in an efficient way that customers have knowledge about it and then it should be supplied to them. The same applies to the international trade where many countries are competing with each other to get the attention of consumers,” Chawla elaborated.
Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) Chairman Zulfikar Thaver told The Express Tribune that recently one of their members visited Charlottesville, Virginia where in every shop that he visited he saw machine-made rugs and carpets of very good quality, which had the label of “Made in India”, and the bed linen exported by the neighbouring country.
Leather goods, shoes, belts, purses and briefcases of India were also there.
“Why don’t we sell similar or even better quality goods there,” he asked.
He emphasised that the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), tasked with promoting and developing trade ties, must take immediate measures.
“It is indeed very painful that there is no presence of Pakistani goods while we are in a position to export better quality goods at competitive prices.”
The acting FPCCI chief pointed out that the EU was a huge market as the bloc was composed of 27 countries. “Trade representatives of Pakistan must understand what factors can lead to increase in exports to the European bloc.”
The trade officers could play their role in enhancing foreign exchange earnings through the promotion and facilitation of Pakistan’s exports, said Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Chief Coordinator of PHMA.
“It is their prime responsibility assigned by the Ministry of Commerce,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2022.
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