ISLAMABAD: In a strategic move to boost the country’s exports, the Ministry of Commerce has established two powerful export advisory councils to devise a strategy for the promotion of textile and non-textile products.

The councils will be tasked with developing sector-specific strategies to increase export volumes, according to two notifications issued by the commerce ministry on Wednesday.

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These councils are set to formulate policy guidelines within an eight-week time frame. These guidelines will then be presented to the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for approval.

This initiative is a key component of the overarching strategy aimed at achieving the ambitious export target of $100 billion.

The chairperson or convenor has the discretion to include any additional individuals from the public or private sector, as needed. The advisory councils are also tasked with advising the Ministry of Commerce on issues impacting textile and non-textile exports.

The ministry will offer administrative support to these councils, which will meet every month, or more frequently if necessary, under the chairmanship of the commerce minister.

The Export Advisory Council for Textile comprises distinguished members from the private sector, including Musadaq Zulqarnain from Interloop Holdings, Fawad Anwar of Alkaram Textiles, Shahid Soorty from Soorty Textiles, Mian Muhammad Ahsan of US Group, Yaqoob Ahmed from Artistic Milliners, Amir Fayyaz Sheikh of Kohinoor Mills, Shahid Abdullah from Sapphire Textile Mills, Ahmed Kamal of Kamal Textile Mills, and Ashraf Makati of TBC company.

The Export Advisory Council for Non-Textile products includes members from the private sector such as Shehzad Ali Malik from Guard Agricultural Research and Services, Waheed Ahmed from Iftikhar Ahmed & Co, Khalil Sattar from K&N’s Foods (Pvt) Ltd, Zulfiqar Malik from Malik Sports, Salman Hanif from Hanif Jewelry & Watches, Adnan Hirani from Hirani Pharmaceuticals, Zubair Tufail from Tufail Chemicals, Jahangir Bajwa from Amicas Enterprises, Abdur Razzak Gauhar from Infinity Engineering Pvt Ltd, Shoaib Sultan from Popular Marble Industries, Zulfiqar Hayat from Leather Ltd, Shabbir Dewan from Getron (Industries) Ltd, Anwar Ghani from Ghani Glass, and Fuad Garib from Garibsons (Pvt) Ltd.

These councils will also have representation from senior officials from the ministries of commerce and finance, FBR, State Bank and representatives from the provincial governments.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2023