Decreasing Pakistan’s trade deficit has been a focus of Prime Minister Imran Khan and as such he has given the approval for the formation of a National Export Development Board under the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2020-25.
According to the Prime Minister, he himself will head the board and has stated that the board will include all the stakeholders of the export industry
Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI has approved the formation of National Export Development Board.
The board will be headed by the Prime Minister and it will include all stakeholders of the export industry. pic.twitter.com/CIvb1IJsaX
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) November 30, 2020
The board will hold monthly meetings discussing the issues related to Pakistan’s exports and come up with strategies to increase the exports of Pakistan to boost the economy of the country.
The National Export Development Board will hold its meetings monthly where all the issues relating to Pakistan’s export will be discussed. 2/2 @ImranKhanPTI @aliya_hamza @PTVNewsOfficial @RadioPakistan @appcsocialmedia @tdap_official @pid_gov @Emergingpk
— Abdul Razak Dawood (@razak_dawood) November 30, 2020
The board has the capability to streamline the process of policy formation to incentivize exports in Pakistan but that can only happen if all the stakeholders are taken into confidence at the right time especially as the government has a history of introducing unexpected policies that even the international organizations have protested against in the past.
It might also be important to see what capacities the National Export Development Board will operate in as the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) already exists as a governmental entity. Pakistan also had a Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) which was succeeded by the TDAP in 2006.
