RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: Trade policy 2015-18 will help boost the export industry as it targets key markets like Iran, China, Afghanistan and the European Union, said President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Mian Humayun Parvez here Friday.
The RCCI President said that South & Central Asia regions are amongst the least integrated regions of the world, and intra-regional trade is less than 5% primarily caused by high costs due to low infrastructure facilities, energy crisis, missing links and lack of transit agreements.
He said if we improve our trade relations with Afghanistan we will easily get into the Central Asian Countries.
He said the government has set export target of $35 billion by 2018 which is achievable if we successfully complete our energy projects in time.
He urged the concerned to fulfill the commitment to release refund claims of exporters by March 31.
He said that pharmaceutical products, surgical goods/medical instruments, footwear, furniture, handicraft, gems and some food products’ exports have shown significant improvement and government should facilitate exporters in import of machinery for these sectors.
He urged the concerned quarters to venture into new avenues of revenue generation instead of sticking to conventional export sectors like agriculture and textile.
The information technology sector should be encouraged which can boost exports to new heights if this sector is regulated and taxed with soft hands.
The RCCI President also called for improvement in market research, infrastructure, and skill development, reforms in taxation/custom duties, skilled workforce, transport links and use of information technology.
