Trade Policy 2025 to be Announced Soon: Commerce Minister

Federal Minister for Commerce and Trade Jam Kamal Khan has said the government was working to announce the Trade Policy 2025 which would be presented to the standing committees of the Parliament soon. Replying to the questions of Senator Zeeshan Khanzada in the 342nd session of the question and answer session of the House, he said the government was committed to facilitating trade and industry and expanding exports. Kamal said that the incumbent government was determined to bring institutional and structural reforms, enhance regional connectivity, and diversify exports to ensure sustainable growth and stabilize the economy. He said the prime minister has conducted several meetings with relevant ministries and stakeholders to deliberate upon a range of issues so that a comprehensive strategy could be framed regarding challenges being faced by the business and industry.   He said that the textile sector, which constitutes the major portion of the country’s exports, was under stress and we are considering different options for developing the sector. He informed that the present government had appointed a competent Head of the National Compliance Center on September 1. He told the House that textiles and apparel exports increased by 0.93 percent in the financial year 2023-24 as compared with the previous year. The minister added that the government was taking steps to redesign the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) of FBR for inclusion of all stages of the manufacturing for end-to-end coverage; exemption of registered units from sales tax on utility bills and removal of other procedural irritants to ease the imports for re-export purposes. Later the Senate Chairman referred the matter to the concerned committee.