KARACHI: Calls and emails to Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Labour Adviser Asghar Ali Junejo, Labour Secretary Noor Muhammad Laghari and some other senior officials remained unresponded which in itself is a reflection of the province’s level of preparedness regarding effective implementation of the conventions signed by the country in connection with the GSP+ status.

Ultimately it was Pakistan People’s Party General Secretary Taj Haider who tried to fill in, stressing that the Sindh government has a strategy in place to utilise all resources to exploit the export potential of the province.

“Quite a few Pakistani companies have started producing quality materials, especially hosiery items, that sell at high prices. The general target thus should be to produce top quality stuff,” he said.

Talking of the 27 conventions Pakistan has signed, Mr Haider said the Sindh government does not consider them restrictive. “It is a welcome sign that there are already quite a few quality-conscious and export-oriented groups that are voluntarily following these perimeters. The trend is a growing and the number of units with ISO certification is rapidly increasing.”

Proposals to carry out joint surveys of industrial units with the aim of helping them meet international requirements are under active consideration, he said.

“Seafood can be exported at better prices to EU markets with little investment in improving operations than to sell in markets where prices are low,” he said, adding that there was a special programme for upgrading fishing trawlers through bank credits. Sindh Bank is pioneering such programmes, he informed.

“Much better quality can be produced from the machinery already in place. The need is skilled manpower,” he asserted, and added that the exporting community in Sindh had a comparative advantage over the other provinces. In this regard, he cited Thar coal reserves and several wind energy projects that, he believed, would be taking care of the power shortage issue sooner rather than later.

At the recent Thar Coal conference, he recalled, a proposal for exporting coal briquettes had been put forward. The demand of coal briquettes is very high and our prices come to less than 30 per cent of EU prices.

“Couple of companies from Germany have already shown interest in putting up plants at Islamkot, and we hope to raise enough foreign exchange to finance our industrialisation plans in a big way.”

Mr Haider identified milk and dairy products, meat, hides and skins and fisheries as some new sectors that, according to him, had huge export potential to European markets. Small handicraft markets in rural areas, especially Thar, are also planned. “We anticipate a large number of buyers from Europe to visit these local handicraft markets and grow permanent export channels,” he added.

Industrial Relations Act:

The Sindh government has taken lead over other provinces by introducing the Sindh Industrial Relations Act 2013 in March last, said Gulfam Memon, Joint Director, Labour Department Sindh. The act gives for the first time in the history of Pakistan the right of forming trade unions to workers associated with the agriculture sector.

Besides the act makes women representation in CBAs mandatory. When asked if there was any special cell set up to check implementation of ILO conventions especially after the grant of GSP+ status, he answered in the negative, but added that almost all labour-related regulations had already been upgraded in compliance with international conventions.

On implementation of minimum wages i.e. Rs10,000, he said that it was notified in December 2013 and it was not possible for the department to ensure timely implementation within a matter of couple of months.