ISLAMABAD-Adviser to Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Monday said that the government is committed to accelerate the establishment of a Potato Development Council under the forthcoming Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF).
He said that he held a fruitful consultative session with the farmers and exporters of potatoes at the ministry of commerce. “We discussed problems facing the exports of potatoes and discussed ways forward. We agreed to expedite the establishment of a Potato Development Council under the forthcoming STPF, which will formulate a long-term vision and policy for this sector,” said Adviser on Twitter. He said that he would visit the potato growing area to meet the farmers and also see the storage facilities.
The government has also interested to set up cold storage areas at airports and shipping ports besides establishing a mango development council under the forthcoming Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF). “We discussed problems in exports of mango and discussed the way forward. We agreed to explore establishing cold storage areas on airports and shipping ports,” he said. The Adviser took these decisions in a consultative session with the growers, farmers and exporters of Mangoes in Islamabad. In a Twitter post, he said the consultative session was fruitful.
Earlier on last Saturday, the government has agreed in a consultation meeting that establishment of Mango Development Council will be explored which will have representation from all stakeholders, including farmers, traders, cool chains representatives, research institutes, etc.  Ministry of Commerce hosted a consultative session on the issues about exports of Mango, via video-link.
It is worth mentioning here that the government is working on STPF to enhance the country’s exports. The government is likely to announce the STPF 2020-25 in next few weeks after getting approval from the federal cabinet and Economic Coordination Committee (ECC). The Ministry of Commerce has come up with an ambitious plan to increase the country’s exports to as high as $37 billion in the next five years. A high power board will be established under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. The board will meet twice a year to approve policies for the promotion of exports from the country. Other members of the board will include finance ministers, commerce, food security, energy, and power divisions, central bank governor and other top officials of the relevant ministries.
Under the STPF 2020-25, textile, leather, surgical and sports goods, carpet, rice, and cutlery have been included along with non-formal and development sectors like engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, process food and beverages, footwear, gem and jewellery, chemicals, meat and poultry, seafood, marble, and granite. The policy will focus on increasing exports of these sectors.