2nd National Open Trade Conference: Speakers elaborate various facets of trade dynamics

ISLAMABAD: A 2nd National Open Trade Conference was held in Islamabad under the auspices of PRIME Institute, an economic think tank. Purpose of the conference was to take stock of the existing policy framework and its corresponding governance structure for facilitating trade flows of Pakistan.

A self-introspection approach was supported to determine the structural gaps in optimal trading environment. An august panel of speakers, representing the public sector, academia and business community, elaborated on the various facets of trade dynamics.

Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, couldn’t make to the conference due to his official cabinet engagements, but he sent his best wishes for the event. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Ex-Commerce Minister, shared his insights in the mechanics of trade policy and its implementation at the government level. He accepted the fact that governments have not been giving much high priority for trade development. With fragmented trade governance structure, Commerce Ministry is left with very little leeway for some greater productive support to trading community in Pakistan. He explained the background of volatility in export growth during PML-N last tenure, citing political instability and slowdown in global trade as the two main reasons.

In his opinion, present government policies of currency devaluation and increase in interest rates are exacerbating the export growth. He defined that free trade and increase in exports are two separate tasks, which do interlink.

In his welcome address Zia Banday, Joint Executive Director requested the researchers to think out of box for working out optimal solutions. He quoted the example of China, where commerce governance is done on the central, provincial and municipality levels. He advocated enhanced powers for the local government in trade development.

Dr. Ghulam Samad, Director PIDE highlighted the pitfalls and opportunities for economic players in CPEC. He supported the gradual Chinese approach in policy implementation. Chinese government made mistakes, but it also improves governance by learning from them. It has a greater focus on regional development than sectoral target policies. Economic integration with Chinese economy is a better option.

Ms. Shaiyanne Malik, President Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry South emphasized that since mid-1980s global trading patterns have been changing. Instead of trading in finished goods, 70% of international trade is through global value chains (GVCs). The earlier any country got integrated through these value chains, the more successful it became. Successful precedents are available in regions such as ASEAN countries, China and more recently Vietnam in our own region.

Ali Salman CEO, Institute for Democracy & Economic Affairs, Malaysia stated that trade policy should not just be linked to attracting more investment but also to achieving industrial development aims and the transformation agenda of the economy. He stated that Malaysia’s Trade Policy’s primary objective is very constructive as it is to increase the volume of trade and the contribution of net export to GDP.

Pakistan is in dire need to better assessment of openness of its economy. We need to distinguish between promotion and protection. Finally he said no country in the world has ever ruined by opening its trade. We need to maintain an open trade regime for our own industrial development.

Delivering the concluding address at the conference, Dr Manzoor Ahmad, Chairman PRIME Institute lauded the initiative by PRIME for organising such a gathering which brought together economists, industrialists and their elected representatives to trade bodies, together to engage in dialogue to suggest trade policy reforms.

He said, while we should not be repeating the trade policies of the past, we do need the role of the government in coordination across sectors and ministries. We should aim at participation in the global value chains, and remove impediments in increasing our participation. This coordination will also need a much more proactive role and facilitation by the Ministry of Commerce and its agencies such as TDAP and PITAD in finding new markets and opportunities for Pakistani firms.

The political class and the military have to join forces to move the country forward. He said that his message to the bureaucracy, judiciary, military and the politicians is to help the industry grow and the government will have all the revenue it wants.