Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan has pledged the ministry’s full support in addressing the pressing issues impacting the business community during a meeting with Pakistan Business Forum (PBF). The meeting highlighted several critical challenges, including Pakistan’s disproportionately high electricity costs, which are hampering the country’s ability to compete internationally, said a news release. During the meeting, the representatives of the PBF stated that Pakistan’s electricity costs, at 20 cents per unit, far exceed those of regional competitors such as India and Bangladesh, where costs are around 4 cents per unit. The minister acknowledged that the high electricity tariffs have severely hindered the competitiveness of Pakistani industries in the global market, thereby stifling export growth. “We can’t compete with the international market and can’t increase exports unless we address the issues related to cost of production,” he emphasized.

President of PBF, Khawaja Mehboob ur Rehman said for decades, Pakistan’s inward-looking trade policy regime has constrained economic growth and export performance. High tariffs, pervasive import bans, complex regulatory duties and extensive red-tape have led to serious distortions in the economy. These policies might have served a purpose in the past, but are now fundamentally misaligned with Pakistan’s development needs and changing global economy. There is an urgent need for comprehensive reform to liberalise trade, boost competitiveness and enable export-led growth. He said Pakistan’s trade policy approach has historically centred on import substitution industrialisation and protecting the domestic industry through high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. This was rooted in a view that imports were ‘bad’ and threatened domestic production and employment. While ISI met with some early success, the policy outlived its utility as inefficiencies became entrenched.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan