September 23, 2006	Saturday	Sha'aban 29, 1427

KARACHI, Sept 22: The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) is expected to start its full-fledged working in the next 18 months to achieve a quantum jump in exports by working on supply side and value-addition of non-traditional goods.

“The TDAP is presently awaiting legislation and once the draft law is enacted through an act of parliament or an ordinance, it will need six months for planning and 12 months for implementation,” officials told Dawn.

The officials said the enactment of ordinance was expected within next couple of weeks and thereafter the authority will come into being.

In the meantime working for the launch of the TDAP is in full swing and eight executive directors have been inducted in a team that is going to implement the authority’s plan and working. For each subject there will be separate head, including marketing, planning, finance, communication, human resource management, etc.

The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) will constitute a team of management headed by its chairman to ensure smooth implementation and execution of TDAP’s plans within 18 months period.

Sources said two consultants having expertise in organisational management and human resource development would be inducted to assist in their respective areas. Standard operating procedures will be developed by the consultant for the new organisation and the other will map out skills by assessing the existing staff and identify resources required for training them. It will also hire new staff where needed.

Special training programmes will be developed for the adoption of new standard operating procedures of the TDAP. After imparting required skills in the staff, implementation phase for the TDAP will start within a period of 18 months. Consultants will have to ensure that everything goes as per plans and no shortfalls are witnessed at any stage.

The TDAP being an autonomous body will work efficiently and at a faster pace which could match with rapidly changing environments and conditions in the global market. It will be free from bureaucratic clutches and will be able to work more independently than the EPB.

The work is in advance stages for developing the logo of the new body and a communication plan focused towards introduction inside the country and abroad has been developed.

Minister of State and EPB Chairman Tariq Ikram told Dawn that soon after the annunciation of the TDAP act, planning and implementation stages would be taken up at a full speed to meet the target of making it operational within a period of 18 months.

A high-level technology would be introduced in the TDAP operation to make it efficient, and in this regard about 50 per cent of computers and required modern equipment had already been procured, he maintained.

Mr Ikram said working was going on in the EPB to update records so that the new organisation from the first day was well equipped from every aspect. He said it was expected that by March 2007, all sorts of automation was completed. The TADP will undertake stakeholders’ development programme. For this purpose, he said institutional arrangements were being made with local training institutions, such as IBA, PIM, etc.

Similarly, he said services of some foreign institutions, such as CBI of Holland, Jetro of Japan, etc., would be hired and all affords would be made to convince local business to expand in order to meet export targets with much emphasis on small and medium sized enterprises.