THIS is apropos the news item ‘New policy for trade officers’ posting abroad likely’ (July 13). According to the report, 55 trade officers in Pakistan’s foreign missions are likely to be posted.

According to the summary drafted by the minister of commerce, the candidates must obtain 50pc marks in the test. It has been further proposed in the draft summary that officials of the prime minister’s secretariat will be accommodated for posting as trade officers in 2015.

Trade promotion is a matter that should not be taken so lightly. Only those professional groups which do have exposure to international trade and expertise in the field may be considered for appointments to these posts.

The groups which meet this criteria are commerce and trade groups, customs and foreign service groups.

To be fair to the nation, the points given below may be considered while posting officers abroad as trade diplomats:

1. Qualifying marks for the test should be enhanced from 50pc to 70pc to ensure that only officers with adequate knowledge about world trade are selected.

2. Keeping in view the spirit of Estacode concerning the occupational groups, selection of officers may be as per the following breakdown: (a) commerce and trade group (70pc), (b) Customs group (15pc), (c) foreign service group (10pc), and (d) private sector (five per cent).

The fact that remittances have become a major component of the balance-of-payments should not be ignored. In its latest issue of The Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank has stated that this year’s remittance flows to developing countries will be an increase of 7.80pc over the 2013 volume of $404bn.

India led the chart of remittance flows, receiving $70bn last year, followed by China with $60bn and the Philippines with $25bn.

The Pakistan government may consider creating posts of trade officers in countries which are a richer source of remittances for us. Such countries could be Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Officers posted in these countries may make efforts for promoting export of goods, as well as of manpower.

M. Essa Jalbani

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2014