Export Development Fund board approves Sialkot tannery zone

ISLAMABAD: The Board of Export Development Fund (EDF) under chairmanship of Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan on Monday approved establishment of tannery zone in Sialkot and holding of road shows in Central Asian Republics (CARs) to boost exports.

The Board of Directors of EDF approved the project entailing relocation of tanneries in the leather industrial zone as part of Climate Change Adaptation. 

The project would be supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency Punjab with technical and financial assistance of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. 

The project would address the environmental concerns of international buyers to enhance procurement orders from Pakistan.

The Federal Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir chaired the 70th meeting of the EDF BoD which approved several projects for export facilitation, development and promotion. 

The board also approved holding of road shows in Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in May to showcase Pakistani pharmaceuticals, textiles, sports, surgical goods, agricultural products, and auto parts.

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) plans to hold these exhibitions in a single visit during the first half of May before Ramazan to seek import orders.

Dastgir said the CARs have considerable imports in these sectors from around the world, but buy very nominal amounts from Pakistan. He said with regional connectivity projects in Pakistan, the central Asian countries have shown more interest to import from Pakistan, which was also conveyed in clear terms during the prime minister’s chain of visits last year. These road shows would provide the private sector to establish business-to-business links and capitalise on the opportunities, he added.

The board also approved the project put forward by the Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association of Pakistan to purchase hi-tech machinery to make sophisticated and modern surgical goods. 

The board directed the TDAP to work in collaboration with the Export Development Fund Secretariat, port authorities and officials of anti-narcotics force to establish digital scanning equipment at the ports.

Dastgir added that in order to enhance export facilitation and to avoid damaging packaging of consignments, the ministry aims to replace the time-consuming-physical checking of export consignments at the ports, and replace it with machines.

The board was informed by the president of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the land for the construction of an Expo Centre in Quetta has been selected and the chamber was negotiating with the provincial government to get it transferred in their name.