ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that due to its rational approach and prudent policies, the present government had achieved great success in economic growth which had been acknowledged by the international financial institutions.
“Our stock markets have shown phenomenal bullish trends, inflation rate has decreased and investors are now keen to invest in Pakistan,” he said while chairing a meeting to review measures taken by the government to enhance exports of Pakistan at the PM House in Islamabad.
The prime minister was informed that major issues identified regarding exports included competitive international suppliers who were also competing with Pakistani goods, comparative incentives on exports where other economies were providing higher incentives and taxation regime.
He was also informed regarding facilitative measures provided by the government in terms of support for plant and machinery for agro processing, technology up-gradation fund, brand and certification development, incentives on product development and related taxes and levies.
The prime minister said that in order to develop the export sector, key enablers including quality infrastructure, labour productivity, access to utilities and technological development needs to be focused upon.
Moreover, convergence of local and international standards, protection of intellectual property, and effective and efficient disputes resolution mechanism were also essential to boost exports, he remarked.
The prime minister directed the Finance Division, Commerce Division, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Board of Investment (BOI) to come up with sound proposals for improving the situation.
The prime minister further directed that these proposal should be presented in the next meeting in presence of business representatives so as to ensure input from the business community.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan, Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, Chairman BOI Miftah Ismail, Secretary to PM, Secretary Finance, Chairman FBR and other senior officials.
