Govt plans expo centre for Punjab industrial cities

LAHORE: The federal government has planned to ask the Punjab authorities to allocate land for a common expo centre to promote engineering and other manufacturing products of industrial cities among foreign buyers, commerce adviser said on Saturday.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Razak Dawood said the expo centre will be for Sialkot, Gujrat, Wazirabad and Gujranwala.

“For sustainable growth in exports, we need to diversify our products into the developmental sectors, and find new markets, including Africa and Middle East,” Dawood said during a visit to Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

The adviser acknowledged the role of the industry in the industrial cities for their contribution in overall exports of Pakistan and assured full support to exporters and industrialists.

The commerce adviser discussed development of fans, furniture and pottery industries with the representatives. He also visited the Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association, where the representatives shared different issues related to export of fans and discussed practical and constructive solutions for development of industry and resolution of problems.

The meeting discussed various measures and interventions, including the recent move for revision of rates of duty drawbacks for electric fans, to boost exports and promote engineering sector.

The adviser said the government would play its facilitative role in finding solutions facing the business community.

Dawood said Pakistan has been able to successfully deal with the health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic because of the effective coordination between the federal and provincial authorities, as well as the private sector.

“Due to these joint efforts and proper implementation of standard of procedures, Pakistan was able to bounce back quickly, in terms of exports, as compared to its regional competitors,” he said.

The commerce adviser apprised the representatives of the industry of various cost reduction measures, like tariff rationalisation on raw materials and intermediaries, taken by the ministry of commerce to enable the industry to manufacture their products on globally competitive rates and ensure value-addition.

“These measures are essential for strengthening of economy by promoting ‘Make in Pakistan’, export led growth and import substitution,” he said. “The government has already done tariff rationalisation for 41 percent of the raw materials and intermediaries, while the next measures are also under consideration for different sectors, including chemicals, engineering, pharmaceuticals, leather, food processing and textiles, under the three years tariff rationalisation plan of the ministry of commerce.”

The meeting also discussed the importance of tariff rationalisation for improvement of competitiveness of domestic industry including the exports sector through duty free access to imported raw materials and intermediate goods, which will increase employment opportunity in the country by attracting investment in manufacturing sector.