By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: The awareness on various instruments that are available to facilitate exports’ promotion and compliance with the international standards could open the doors of new markets across the globe for the Pakistani small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
These views were expressed by experts on trade, investment and economy including from the public and private sectors said this while speaking to the participants at online consultative dialogue ‘Textile & garment industry outlook amid COVID-19’ organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Thursday.
Senior Economist at the World Bank, Mr Gonzalo Varela, was of view that the productivity of Pakistani enterprises is low as compared to Bangladesh and India. Low investment is one of the key reasons behind this phenomenon and therefore, more capital needs to be diverted towards enhancing trade capabilities of private sector, he added.
“Attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) can help export enterprises,†Mr Varela said and added further that FDI helps firms to integrate in global value chains. Pakistan can incentivize firms to export through bringing down tariffs on imports, improving logistics, and promoting smart branding and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) can help with branding and promotion, he concluded.
Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, while moderating the discussion, highlighted the need to create awareness across SMEs regarding export promotion schemes by the government. He said that the SMEs will need help to understand and meet buyer requirements which have become stringent during Covid19 pandemic times and the Ministry of Commerce along with SMEDA could explain to the small firms how to comply with quality control measures, pre-shipment and border clearance requirements, anti-competitive measures and other conditions by buyers of Pakistani goods.
He suggested to the participants that public – private dialogue should be encouraged as it would help the government to understand the role of SME’s in the trade space and how they could be helped to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, he said, it would also help to reflect stakeholders’ position on fiscal, trade and SME policy and what the government needs to do to support SMEs.
Honorary Consul General of the Czech Republic, Dr Kamal Monnoo, was of view that Pakistani textile enterprises suffer when consumption declines in European Union and United States. In such a scenario, government’s top priority should be to support survival of exporters for at least the next 6 months. The four main costs which are higher compared to peer economies include electricity, gas charges, wages, and general sales tax rate, should be reduced, he said.
Mr Rahim Nasir, CEO at Ayesha Spinning Mills said: COVID-19 has led to reduction in global demand of textile and garments by at least 30%. He stressed that minimum turnover tax may be abolished and refunds of exporters may be processed at the earliest. Muhammad Babar Khan, Former Chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturer Association (PHMA), urged that the new trade policy should aim to cultivate a culture of export facilitation across federal and provincial governments.
