ISLAMABAD, July 17: The PPP-led coalition government will unveil its first trade policy for 2008-09 on Friday afternoon amid growing trade deficit due to rising oil prices and slowing exports.

Commerce Minister Ahmed Mukhtar will announce the policy, envisaging a string of proposals for increasing exports growth and competitiveness of exportable goods.

The expected realistic export target would be around $21 billion for 2008-09.

However, some measures will be taken to curtail rising import bill in a bid to reduce the all time high trade deficit of $20 billion achieved this year to a reasonable level.

An official in the commerce ministry said the proposed measures include steps for exports facilitations, improvement in sectoral growth and various measures for infrastructure development.

It is also expected to announce special package for gems and jewellery sector, horticulture and floriculture sectors in a bid to increase exports from these sectors, the official said.

It is also under consideration to allow import of four to five vaccines from India.

A meeting is also scheduled ahead of the special cabinet meeting to decide the quantum of subsidy amount for textile and clothing sector for formal announcement in the trade policy.

The policy will be liberal and export-friendly to meet the growing challenges of the future, he said, adding, protective measures for domestic produce would be accorded due importance.

The official said that these initiatives will require no cash from the kitty, but the relevant ministries can implement it within the required allocations from Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

According to the official, some measures, like LC margin, would be announced in the trade policy to curtail the rising trend in import bill. However, there would be no drastic step in this regard, added the official.

Ironically, the trade policy is announced after the budget, which has already allocated money for various sectors, including trade promotion.

This means that annual announcement of trade policy has just become a ritual as initiatives announced in the policy do not get a fair share in the PSDP.

According to trade analysts, the policy should be framed much ahead of the budget so that it gets fair allocation for various initiatives for increasing exports in the budget documents.

Analysts said that the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has, so far, failed to implement some of the initiatives announced in the last year’s trade policy for promotion and enhancement of exports. The issue is not of announcement but of implementation, they added.

The TDAP was responsible for implementation of trade policies, said the source and added the ministry could only formulate policies.

On the other hand, the initiatives for which the former EPB either issued notices or notified procedures used to be so cumbersome or lengthy that they totally failed to attract maximum exporters.

The source said that all initiatives announced for facilitating imports were, however, implemented completely through a single notification after the announcement of the trade policy.