Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has approved the establishment of Trade Facilitation Board.

He gave the approval while chairing a meeting regarding trade facilitation in Islamabad today.

The Prime Minister himself will chair the Trade Facilitation Board.

The proposed board will make decisions aimed at improving the entire trade supply chain and addressing all non-tariff issues related to cross-border trade.

The board will formulate a roadmap for the promotion of trade, develop a Trade Facilitation Index and devise a strategy for monitoring progress.

The Prime Minister directed that work to improve the operational capacity of the country’s ports be undertaken on an emergency basis and that various working groups be established for this purpose.

The working groups will focus on enhancing port capacity, improving coordination among relevant departments, ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework, pre-arrival clearance and increasing the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade.

The Prime Minister directed that importers and exporters be provided with maximum facilities at ports and that procedures relating to the transportation and clearance of goods and other related matters be simplified.

The meeting was informed that as part of ongoing reforms, port charges have been reduced, following which there has been a significant improvement in the utilization of ports.