LAHORE, April 13: Trade Development Authority (TDA) director-general Agha Zafar Mehdi has said the authority has decided to promote the culture of branding for increase in exports.

He was addressing a meeting of the TDA Action Committee for Branding attended by representatives of exporters and members of trade associations of rice, leather, textile, garments and footwear industry here on Friday.

He said the TDA had decided to encourage the exporters to develop their brands because it was the ultimate form of value addition and could be applied as an effective marketing tool for increasing exports. The TDA would offer all possible assistance to exporters to develop their brands to enable them to effectively market their products in the world market.

TDA executive director Riaz Ahmad highlighted the benefits of effective brand management and significance of branding in enhancing export. Furthermore the scope of branding was also discussed by identifying various steps involved in brand management strategy at national, sector and enterprise level.

The action committee decided to execute the branding initiative on sector basis as every product sector had its own unique characteristics. The participants were of the view that a general branding approach should not be applied to all sectors. They stressed that an aggressive stance should be taken by TDA in the efforts to develop the culture of branding in Pakistan.

It was also decided that the next meeting of the committee would be held on sectoral basis as desired by stakeholders and exporters in which working groups would be formed to proceed the branding initiative. The committee also assigned the tasks regarding initiatives for franchising and relocation of industries to the action committee.