Government determined to boost economy to give confidence to business community: Commerce Minister

Karachi, April 8, 2024 :

Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan on Monday said that the government is confident and focused to further improve all the factors linked with the economy of the country so as to boost confidence of the business community.

He said this while talking to media after a meeting at the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) here on Monday.

He said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has held several meetings regarding economy of the country and business, exports, trade and energy sectors are among our top priorities.

Jam Kamal Khan said that the Commerce Ministry is well aware of its responsibility to reach out business community to take the input from them and we are determined to give our utmost to resolve the challenges being confronted by the business community.

Referring a recently held pre-budget seminar at Islamabad, the Federal Commerce Minister said that representatives of the business community from all the country were invited to take their valuable suggestions to incorporate in the policy and decision making so as to further improve the situation.

The Commerce Minister told a questioner that trade diplomacy has been a very vital factor throughout the globe which has helped the countries to improve their diplomatic ties.

He said that the government as well as the business community are considering the available options to move the things in the positive direction.

Jam Kamal Khan said that the government is very hopeful and taking things forward in a progressive way and in near future we will share with the media and the masses the opportunities we need to ponder over for our progress and prosperity.

He told another questioner that the road map of exports is not a push button to improve the exports immediately rather it is a gradual and continuous process and therefore we will have to take appropriate steps accordingly.

He lauded the performance of the previous caretaker government, and said that many things were streamlined in the past six months as smuggling was controlled to a greater extend and some of the initiatives needed to be taken ahead.

He said that we have also entered various agreements of foreign direct investments (FDI) and we are working on the proposed projects for practical implementation.

To a question, he said that the ban on Onion export was imposed till April 15 only for Ramazan-ul-mubarak and further extension in it is not under consideration.

He told another questioner that steps were taken during last five months to improve border control mechanism and now the present government has taken a decision to establish a dedicated authority to facilitate all the concerned departments operate under one umbrella.

To a question about the auto industry, he said that like other industries the suggestions are also received pertaining to cars manufacturing and we will take an amicable decision on it ahead of the next budget.

Speaking about the law and order situation in Karachi, he said that the law and order is a provincial subject while the Center government facilitates the provincial governments and we will continue our cooperation and further improve collaborations in this regard.