The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) will inaugurate its help desk at the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on November 12, 2026, as part of a nationwide initiative to improve export facilitation and support the business community. The Rawalpindi chamber will be the 15th chamber of commerce where TDAP has opened a trade facilitation desk in the last one year. The announcement was shared on the official LinkedIn page of the authority, which described the opening as part of its effort to take its services closer to traders by placing them within the chambers of commerce.
The help desks were established on the directions of Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan. According to TDAP, the initiative is part of its reforms and transformation, which aim to expand the services of the authority through business facilitation at the doorstep of exporters. By setting up desks inside chambers, the authority makes its staff available in places that traders already visit, so that they do not have to travel to a TDAP office for basic guidance. The approach also gives chambers a direct link with the authority on trade related matters.
The desk at RCCI will give business leaders, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and new exporters direct access to export related guidance, TDAP business plans, market information, and facilitation services. For companies that are planning their first shipments abroad, this kind of local support can help them understand the steps involved in entering a foreign market, while established exporters can use the desk to find out about the services and market information that the authority offers. Rawalpindi is a major business centre in the region, and the chamber has a large membership of traders and small businesses.
The inauguration will be followed by an awareness session on the Preferential Trade Access Database (PTAD) of TDAP. The authority described the database as another milestone, since all 29 preferential arrangements with more than 90 countries have been brought together on a single platform for the first time to facilitate Pakistani exporters. Exporters who attend the session can learn how to use the platform to check the trade preferences that apply to their products and the markets they want to sell in, and the authority has indicated that the same approach of combining a help desk with awareness sessions is being followed across the chambers where it is opening desks.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
