Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the incumbent government was taking priority measures to reduce the production cost of industrial goods for local industry, trade, and population. The prime minister, chairing a meeting to review recommendations of the sub-working group on customs duty and other trade sector reforms, said that the National Tariff Policy approved by the government was a revolutionary step to boost domestic industrial production while making businesses competitive in local and international markets. 

He said that the Policy was also introduced to facilitate domestic industrial production and to align exports and imports with overall national economic growth. He said that identifying the sector-specific proposals and issues was inevitable to increase domestic industrial production and trade. The prime minister said that for decades, the Export Development Fund was not utilised to promote research and training to enhance economic and industrial production capacity. 

He emphasised that the recommendations and reform proposals in the export and import sectors put forward by experts must be based on realistic data and statistics. Prime Minister Shehbaz also directed strict monitoring of customs duties collection on bilateral and transit trade goods with other countries on the border. The working group viewed that sustainable export-led economic growth was only possible through increased investment and production capacity, government protection, and improved infrastructure. 

During the meeting, Muhammad Ali Tabba and other representatives of the business community, who are part of the sub-working group, briefed the prime minister on issues related to customs and tax collection and presented their recommendations. Prime Minister Shehbaz welcomed the recommendations and issued instructions to the ministries and institutions concerned to extend all possible facilities to the business community and investors. 

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Musadik Malik, Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Ahad Khan Cheema, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Azhar Bilal Kayani, Haroon Akhtar, Chairman of Special Investment Facilitation Council, representatives of national industry and business community and senior government officials. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)