Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for immediate action to improve the competitiveness of the nation's exports, and instructed the relevant authorities to develop trade policies with the primary goal of assisting the business sector.

During a meeting on trade, the prime minister ordered the exporters' certified duty drawback to be paid immediately and urged measures to be taken to encourage the export of non-traditional goods.

Emphasizing the importance of the private sector, he directed that their input be sought during the policymaking process and that the deletion policy be put into effect in order to support the auto industry.

PM Sharif instructed the relevant ministry to formulate a thorough plan that would evaluate the work of trade and investment officers assigned to Pakistan's overseas missions, rewarding those who performed well and dismissing those who did not. He told the gathering that he would conduct the export sectors' biweekly review himself.

The prime minister was informed during the meeting that transit trade agreements with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan had already materialised, and that negotiations on a free trade agreement between Pakistan and the Gulf states were nearing their conclusion.

It was reported that approximately 450 business-to-business meetings were held at the recent Pak-Saudi Business Conference, and that the e-commerce trade was steadily rising due to the registration of more than 3,000 companies on the Pakistan Trade Portal.

The meeting was also briefed about the finalization of the Gem Export Framework, the stringent oversight of the Afghan Transit Trade, the double-digit premium growth of public sector insurance companies, and the in-principle approval by Pakistan and Russia to operationalize the barter trade.

It was informed that discussions regarding the New Strategic Trade Policy and the Preferential Trade Agreements with Afghanistan and Azerbaijan were currently underway with the relevant parties. Furthermore, the necessary laws were being created in order to create the Technology and Innovation Fund, which is intended to promote industrial development.

The meeting was attended by the governor of the State Bank, senior officers from relevant departments, and federal ministers Jam Kamal Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Dr. Musaddik Malik, Ahad Khan Cheema, and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Jahanzeb Khan.