• Home
• /
• Business

Policy makers call for low tariffs, production cost to boost exports

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan government has been advised by its planners to lower the existing high tariffs and reduce the cost of production with a view to penetrate and raise the country's share in the global export market.

"Our tariffs and the cost of production should be comparable with our competitors to get our due share in the world export market", said the draft of the new National Employment Policy". The policy belies that lowering of tariffs would bring a change in relative price of products across the chain and there is a need to reallocate resources to greater production, technological innovation and new production structures", the draft obtained by this correspondent added.

New policy

The new policy seeks to enhance the existing low employment rate by bringing efficiency in the public and private sector organisations. The Policy Planning Cell (PPC) of the Labour and Manpower Division has prepared the draft of the national employment policy to be shortly discussed with the stakeholders in all the four provinces after which it will be placed before the government for final approval.

It said that duties imposed on raw materials, considered high, are acting as major constraint for exporting leather shoes and meeting increasing global demand. Duties on tannery machines, spare parts and raw materials needed to be reduced or even made duty free for enabling greater Pakistani exports. Special incentives, the policy urged, required to be offered for setting up of industries for the manufacturing of international quality trimming, accessories, competent and the inputs required by the leather industry and declaring Kasur and Sialkot as "Leather Cities" to promote leather industry.

Exports

Pakistan's export of leather industry to European countries is declining due to shifting of tanning industries to China, Korea and other Asian states. Currently, dominated by the traditional food and textile products, the industrial sector demonstrates significant potential for growth, modernisation and employment expansion. It has to diversify and introduce modern technological processes. Increasing integration with global market is must and critically linked with higher factor productivity and gradual shift to higher end products.