KARACHI, Feb 8: A team of four consultants of the United Nations Conference and Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is in the city to organize a one-day Trade and Transport Facilitation Project next Thursday that should help Pakistan move a step forward towards globalization of business.

“Roughly, Pakistan loses about 10 to 16 per cent in the international trade because of traditional trade and transport procedures,” Maxence Orthlieb, the UNCTAD Chief, Trade Facilitation Section, said.

Irfan Naqvi, local in-charge of the UNCTAD office in Karachi, estimated a loss ranging between $1.5 and 2 billion every year because of what is being said the “additional cost owing to long lead times and wastage of scarce resources.”

“It has become important for Pakistan to adopt the international practices, if the country wants to play a significant role in the world trading community,” Sham Bathija, the UNCTAD coordinator of Pakistan programme, emphasized.

Chief Technical Adviser, T. Shanta A De Silva, spelt out the objectives of the UNCTAD’s Pakistan trade and transport facilitation project.

The project seeks amendments and changes in procedures, rules and legislation related to transport of goods by road, rail and sea through the multi-modal network.

The project, he said, would help Pakistan in developing skills to draw up new trade and transport documents based on international standards and aligning them with the UN layout key standards.

Overall, the project seeks improvement in operational efficiency and electronic data interchange systems. It also strives updating institutional and procedural practices related to transport, banking freight, forwarding, dry ports, bonded carriage and insurance.

The UNCTAD has been offering services and guidance to Pakistan in the past. The Pakistan government has also constituted a Standing Committee on National Trade and Transport Facilitation, headed by the federal commerce secretary. This committee has members from federal communications, finance and planning and development ministries, Central Board of Revenue, State Bank of Pakistan, KPT, Port Qasim, National Ship Owners, Pakistan Railways, Export Promotion Bureau and trade bodies.

The one-day project mobilization workshop programme next Thursday (Feb 14) is spread over an inaugural session and four working sessions in which trade facilitation and custom issues, legal and operational issues related to transport, training strategy and all other allied matters will be discussed.