Atta ur Rehman
The Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood underscored that Pakistan has tremendous untapped potential of enhancing the exports of services, particularly the IT sector. He talked about the E-Commerce policy of the government where the experience of World Bank can be helpful in knowledge management as well as enabling the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to introduce E-Commerce platforms for enhanced market outreach.
According to details, the Advisor has made these remarks while talking to the newly appointed country Director of World Bank (WB) for Pakistan, Najy Benhassine, who called on him at Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.
During the meeting various matters for mutual cooperation were discussed, particularly support for institutional strengthening of Ministry of Commerce, including tariff rationalization, ease of doing business reforms, and E-Commerce activities under the Ministry’s E-Commerce policy.
Abdul Razak Dawood shared an overview of different reforms and activities with the country Director WB. He said that the Government has already revised the tariffs on raw materials and intermediaries with the objective of incorporating the remaining sectors in a phased manner, within the next three years.
The Advisor on Commerce further added that the government is laying far greater emphasis on promoting Make in Pakistan and export led growth through this exercise as well as by focusing on objectives of product and geographical diversification.
He also appreciated the technical support of WB to Board of Investment regarding Ease of Doing Business and other business climate reforms. He underlined that Pakistan will continue to follow the reform goals with the same momentum.
Further avenues of cooperation under the Strategic Trade Policy Framework were also discussed in the meeting.
