Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday approved the modernisation of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, a step intended to increase the country’s exports, improve the access of local products to global markets, and bring local industries, including small and medium enterprises, in line with export standards. Chairing a high level meeting in Islamabad, he said a modernised authority would pave the way for manufactured industrial products to reach global markets and lift export earnings. He added that Pakistan possesses vast export potential and an ideal geographic location, and that the government is facilitating industries and small and medium enterprises so that they can make full use of these advantages.
Officials briefed the prime minister on the current setup of the authority and the main challenges it faces. They also presented a comparison of effective Trade Promotion Organisations around the world, which showed how modern institutions provide integrated services for local market development, access to global markets, capacity building for exporters, and trade expansion. A reform package was then presented to turn the authority into a world class trade promotion organisation that responds to modern needs. The proposals include reducing its mandate to eight core functions, restructuring the board and management, optimising the regional network, adopting digital platforms and artificial intelligence, and introducing measurable performance indicators together with independent third party evaluations. The use of digital platforms and artificial intelligence is the technology element of the plan, and it is expected to help exporters find buyers, understand foreign market requirements, and access the authority’s services without depending entirely on physical offices.
The prime minister gave several directions on how the reforms should be carried out. He asked for a complete ecosystem, covering the entire value chain, to be established for the export of agricultural products, and for highly trained human resources to be brought into the authority through a transparent, merit based process. He called for professional growth to be linked to performance and the achievement of targets, and directed that a reputable private audit firm be hired to conduct performance and financial audits of the authority. These instructions suggest that the government wants the reform to change how the institution works and is judged, not only how it is organised on paper, since audits and performance indicators allow the results of the authority to be checked against clear targets.
A phased implementation roadmap of 12 months, covering approval, design, execution, and independent assessment, was also submitted at the meeting. The prime minister directed that the reforms be completed and fully operational by the middle of next year. The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Rana Tanveer Hussain, Jam Kamal Khan, Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and Dr Musadik Malik, along with Coordinator to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other senior officials. The presence of the information technology minister among them points to the weight given to digital tools in the plan. How far exports respond will depend on how quickly the new platforms are built, whether the audits are carried out as directed, and if exporters, especially small and medium enterprises, begin to see better services from the authority within the timeline set by the prime minister.
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