ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday sought recommendations from industrialists and businesspeople on how to increase export-led growth in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhatever growth we have to achieve, it has to be export-led growth, period,\u201d the premier remarked while addressing a meeting with prominent leaders of the business community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that any other kind of growth had \u201cno meaning\u201d and reinforced that economic growth had to be export-led.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday\u2019s meeting is because we\u2019re in the first quarter, in the month of September. I need your opinions on how to increase our exports, as well as what challenges we will face and how to address them,\u201d PM Shehbaz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prime minister gave the example of special tax relief to exporters as a means to achieve this growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalled that in the run-up to the federal budget presented in June this year, the government held multiple meetings and had \u201cintense consultations\u201d with the business community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough your consultations in difficult times, the way we brought structural changes over the past two-and-a-half years \u2026 it\u2019s teamwork. It\u2019s a tremendous teamwork,\u201d PM Shehbaz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a result, we made overdue structural reforms. It\u2019s a long journey, but through enforcement we recovered Rs800 billion in one year. No new taxes were imposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PM Shehbaz praised the teamwork involved between the business community and the government, adding that Pakistan was ready to pursue growth with their input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the government was pursuing a strategy to diversify exportable products and market portfolios to achieve a target of six per cent sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur destination is not only stabilisation but sustainable growth of at least 6pc. That growth has to be export-led; otherwise it will become another economic bubble that bursts within a few years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last Monday, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the government\u2019s focus was on building an ecosystem to support sustainable growth that was led by the private sector and export-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister said Pakistan had moved from stabilisation towards growth, but the key challenge now was to ensure its sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this week, PM Shehbaz welcomed the launch of export insurance coverage by the Export Development Fund (EDF) and the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan, saying the facility would help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) expand the country\u2019s exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chairing a meeting on the EDF, he said the Rs3bn risk pool would expand access to export credit insurance, especially for SMEs, and help the business community increase export volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He described the initiative as a highly welcome step to promote small and medium-sized businesses and strengthen the national economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday sought recommendations from industrialists and businesspeople on how to increase export-led growth in the country. \u201cWhatever growth we have to achieve, it has to be export-led growth, period,\u201d the premier remarked while addressing a meeting with prominent leaders of the business community. He added that any other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n