On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, Mr. Muhammad Younus Dagha, Caretaker Minister for Revenue. Industries and Commerce, delivered a talk to the participants of 34^th SMC on “Trade Policy & its Strategic Implications”

He started his lecture by giving an overview of Pakistan’s trade deficit. The main reason, he said was our import dependence, 30% of which are petroleum related imports. He also highlighted that our exports offer a limited basket and except apparels, we are mostly exporting either raw materials or intermediate goods. Lack of diversification in exports has also led to lack of diversification in terms of destination markets. According to the Guest Speaker, Pakistan’s trade deficit emerged in the first decade of the current century when Pakistan drastically reduced its tariff rated from 30% to 8.8%. This also resulted in closure of many of our industries which were not yet ready for competition. He stressed upon the need to attract investment in engineering related industries, to set up efficient import substitution industries and to search for more markets through more well negotiated Free Trade Agreements.