Pakistan-PTIPP Trade Strategy Overview

Pakistan-PTIPP Trade Strategy Overview

Partner: The World Bank, Pakistan

Locale: Pakistan

Duration: 2015-16

Objectives: To provide Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce with actionable recommendations on trade strategy with particular focus on macro-level determinants of export competitiveness and transit trade.

Recommendations: To boost competitiveness of Pakistani exports, the government needs to address some macro level structural issues, including:

• Regulatory and political economy constraints
• Rising cost of doing business due to import tariff structure
• Limited participation in global value and supply chains
• Inadequate trade facilitation, policy interventions and supporting instruments
• Lack of coordinated support from formal institutions
• Poor availability of credit for exports, particularly for SMEs
• An exchange rate regime that reinforces the anti-export bias of the tariff structure and other policies

Team Members: Dr. Vaqar Ahmed and Danish Hassan