Raw materials used in export industries are now tax-free

• PM Shehbaz Sharif urges removal of all taxes on raw materials used in the export industry.
• He also orders formation of task teams to encourage investment in a variety of areas.
• The meeting was attended by federal ministers Naveed Qamar and Murtaza Mahmood.

KARACHI: As part of his government’s ambition to establish an export-oriented economy, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif urged the appropriate authorities to remove all taxes on the raw materials used in the export industry on Wednesday.

During a meeting with a delegation from the American Business Council, the PM also instructed the formation of task teams to encourage investment in a variety of areas. Tourism, pharmaceuticals, information technology, e-commerce, large-scale manufacturing, and agriculture will all have task teams constituted.

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The premier assured the team that the government was working hard to guarantee that high-quality agricultural products were produced for export.

He said that this was the first time the government had called for policy consistency since the national economy and public welfare were above politics.

Representatives from the pharmaceutical, food processing, IT, e-commerce, retail, textile, sports, and logistics industries made up the delegation. Participants agreed that the government’s actions had helped restore investor confidence, and that the pre-budget dialogue with stakeholders was a positive move.

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The PM asked the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the Board of Investment (BoI) to resolve the challenges faced by investors as soon as possible, and he requested a compliance report within a week.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Naveed Qamar, Murtaza Mahmood, Marriyum Aurangzeb, and senior bureaucrats.