Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, chaired an internal strategy meeting, at Ministry of Commerce Tuesday, to review the recent trade statistics and devise plans for improving the exports. The meeting was attended by senior officers of the Ministry.
The latest statistics of exports and imports of Pakistan were reviewed in the meeting. The data for July 2020 shows an export growth of 5.8%, in dollar value terms, as compared to July 2019. This growth was recorded after a decline in exports for the last four months, since March 2020, when there was a drop of 8% compared to same period last year. This declined widened in April 2020, with a drop of 54% in exports, which improved but remained at 35% in May 2020, improving further to only 6% fall in exports in June 2020, as compared to same period last year.
The strategies for product and geographical diversification were also reviewed in the meeting, in context of the recent trade statistics. One of the major sectors which showed good progress is Food Processing sector where a growth of over 300% was observed in July 2020. Similar growth was witnessed in Made-Upsand Clothing Accessories sectors. In addition, Fish and Fish Products sector recorded a healthy growth of 50%, while Home Textiles sector, which was declining in the previous months, is now back up with 24% growth.
In terms of exports, a major decline is witnessed in rice and cement, which fell down to 24% and 12% respectively in July 2020, as compared to same period last year. There is also a decline in the export of raw leather and cotton yarn, which is a clear indication that the Government’s policy to pursue value-added exports is showing results.
On the import side, a decline of 4.2%, in dollar value terms, was recorded in July 2020, as compared to July 2019.
