ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday approved the establishment of a Trade Facilitation Board aimed at streamlining the country's trade supply chain and addressing non-tariff barriers to cross-border trade.
Sharif will chair the proposed board himself. The body will make decisions on issues affecting the entire trade supply chain and will develop a roadmap for trade promotion, a Trade Facilitation Index and a monitoring strategy, according to officials.
The announcement came as Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on trade facilitation, during which he directed relevant authorities to work on an emergency basis to improve the capacity and efficiency of the country's ports.
He called for the formation of working groups to focus on port efficiency, coordination among government departments, regulatory compliance and pre-arrival clearance. The groups will also examine ways to facilitate the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade, officials said.
Sharif directed authorities to simplify the movement and clearance of goods at ports for importers and exporters and to provide them with maximum facilities.
In a briefing to the meeting, officials said port charges had been reduced as part of ongoing reforms, resulting in a significant improvement in port usage. They also said the use of a facility allowing goods declarations to be submitted before the arrival of vessels was steadily increasing.
The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other senior government officials.
