ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has allowed export settlement of 14 items to Afghanistan in local currency.

The export of poultry and products, meat, cement, pharmaceutical, textiles, fruits, vegetables, salt, rice and surgical instruments to the crisis-hit neighbouring country can be settled in Pakistani rupees, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood announced on his official Twitter account on Friday.

The adviser said that queries have been received regarding export to Afghanistan in Pakistani rupees. “We would like to clarify that to ease exports to Afghanistan; MOC [Ministry of Commerce] has allowed export settlement of 14 items in Pakistan’s local currency,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, the adviser in Karachi launched the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan’s digital portal and a mobile application on the eve of its golden jubilee.

Addressing the golden jubilee ceremony, the adviser said these new facilities will help provide better insurance services to Pakistanis within and outside the country.

Appreciating the SLIC’s profit growth despite Covid shocks, the adviser hoped that the state-owned insurance company would pursue futuristic policy and would focus more on innovations to become a leader in the services sector, which was fast growing in the world.

He, however, emphasised that SLIC with other two state-run insurance companies National Insurance Corporation Ltd and Pakistan Insurance Corporation Ltd should ensure a competitive atmosphere for further growth of this sector.

As a country, he said, in the past due attention and support were not given to exports especially of services. But now, with better policies of the government, the services sector exports had significantly increased. The information technology sector had a big stake in services exports with 50pc growth, he added.

For this financial year, the target for IT exports had been set at $3.7bn and for non-IT services including insurance, shipping line and consultancy the target was $7.5bn. During the last fiscal year, the textile exports went up to $21bn against the $15bn of the previous year.

He mentioned that besides going for value-addition and innovation in the textile sector, the country needed to develop non-traditional export sectors including the services sector for sustained growth in the exports.

“We are depending more on textiles. We should be forward-looking and focus on the services sector and other non-traditional sectors,” he asserted, adding that it is encouraging the textile exports have significantly grown during the last couple of years, but textile did bring only foreign exchange whereas IT exports earned respect for the country along with money.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2022