PM Shehbaz approves establishment of Trade Facilitation Board

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has signed off on creating a Trade Facilitation Board, according to Dawn, which cited a Prime Minister's Office announcement made on Thursday. The body will be chaired by the premier himself and will take decisions on non-tariff issues affecting goods that cross national borders. It will also draft a roadmap for promoting trade and oversee strategy linked to the Trade Facilitation Index and its monitoring.

The decision came out of a meeting in Islamabad attended by several federal ministers, the prime minister's industry adviser and senior officials. There, Shehbaz ordered urgent work to expand port capacity and set up working groups covering coordination between departments, regulatory compliance, pre-arrival clearance and wider participation by smaller firms in global commerce.

He also asked that the delivery and clearance of goods at ports be simplified and that importers and exporters be given as many facilities as possible. The PMO's briefing added that port use had risen markedly since charges were cut under ongoing reforms. It also noted that the option to file goods declarations before ships arrive keeps expanding.