August 18, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Saani 8, 1423

SIALKOT, Aug 17: Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood on Saturday urged the business community to increase the export of non-traditional items.

Addressing a meeting of industrialists and exporters at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), the minister expressed the hope that the country would achieve the export target of $10.4 billion.

He said the government has decided to establish warehouses in EU, Kenya, Poland and Bangladesh to facilitate exports to these countries.

Razak said that there was a great scope of Pakistani exportable in European Union, Poland, Kenya and Bangladesh. “The Sialkot’s exporters can capture these markets by exporting best quality items,” he added.

He said that the government was doing its best to create a business-friendly environment and it had announced several packages and incentives for foreign and local investors for restoring their confidence in the economy.

“Some revolutionary steps are being taken to make country’s three sectors — textile, leather and rice — internationally competitive and the government will soon announce some special incentives for these sectors”, Razak said.

The minister, on this occasion, gave a cheque of Rs80 million from Export Development Fund (EDF) to SCCI president as a matching grant for the timely completion of various development projects in the city. Earlier, the minister inaugurated a fan testing laboratory and new building of Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry during a short visit to Gujrat.