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