Islamabad:
On Wednesday, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly raised the question of whether the government’s plan increased to $ 60 billion by 2029 in the current economic and industrial landscape was possible on Wednesday.
“We believe that your objectives are not realistic,” said the Chairman of the Committee while officials informed the country’s export strategy panel.
Speaking on occasion, Shaista Pervaiz, a member of the committee, underlined the harsh drop in cotton production, which was once held at 14 million bullets, but now fell to 5.5 million balls. “Look at the current state of cotton production,” she said.
Officials defended their projections, citing factors such as Reko Diq potential, Chinese investments and global trade trends. They noted that several countries with zero cotton production still managed to export 40 billion euros in textiles per year.
“This is exactly what we say. Show us exceptional performance,” said the chairman of the committee.
Expressing concerns about Internet problems, the chairman of the committee asked how exports could grow when digital connectivity has remained unstable in the service sector.
Officials of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) assured the committee that the problems of tax rate and power for the textile sector would be resolved. However, they admitted that Pakistan had never witnessed a 60% increase in agro-basée exports during a given year.
TDAP managers have indicated that last year’s agricultural exports reached $ 1 billion and that flagship commercial events have contributed to export growth in several sectors.
They stressed that, during the current financial year 124, international exhibitions presented Pakistani products, 11 commercial delegations visited Pakistan and 10 Pakistani commercial delegations participated in international commercial events.
Rejecting the importance of salons, Gul Asghar Khan, member of the committee, argued that “regardless of the number of exhibitions we hold, unless we solve the problems of traders, nothing will change”.
Khan expressed his frustration as to the disconnection between official briefings and the realities on the ground, saying “in meetings, it seemed that there was no country like Pakistan”, but regretted that no tangible result n ‘was obtained to increase exports.
The committee member, Rana Atif, stressed that in 2022, total exports were $ 32 billion, but instead of increasing, they fell to $ 28 billion in 2023.
