Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar has said that the government is striving to promote and develop regional trade, particularly with Central Asian countries by introducing modern trade and business technologies, besides facilitating the business communities across the region. He said that the trading process could be simplified by using the latest techniques. He was addressing a three-day conference on "Peer Learning Initiatives, National Single Window Implementation and Management" organized by Pakistan Single Window in collaboration with Ready4Trade Central Asia (R4TCA) project. 

The minister also expressed the government's commitment to deepening political, diplomatic and trade relations with all neighboring countries. It is pertinent to mention here that the event has brought together customs and trade experts from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to share their knowledge, experiences, and regional best practices for the development and implementation of the national single window.  Naveed Qamar said that in order to further promote trade ties with regional countries, the government had finalized trade agreements with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. The agreements will also be made with other Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, he added. 

He said that bilateral trade with Afghanistan has witnessed a significant increase, adding that it could be further intensified by facilitating and providing special incentives. He said that opportunities would also be explored to further enhance trade and commerce with Central Asian countries. Pakistan’s ties with Central Asia date back several centuries and both regions have benefited from the free flow of ideas, goods, and people across international boundaries from ancient times, the minister said. The government is also keen to revive ties through increased engagement at government-to-government and people-to-people levels, and by providing the enabling environment to promote regional trade and connectivity, he added. 

The minister said that Pakistan Single Window is one of the most important reform initiatives to have been undertaken in the public sector. Once completed, the platform would integrate 77 government agencies, ministries and departments in addition to the private sector entities and service providers, to provide all cross-border trade-related services to traders and other stakeholders on a single platform, he added. “We are reviewing our entire trade regulatory framework and improving our business processes through business processes” as part of the initiative, he added

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk