ISLAMABAD, May 17: The government has summoned all the Pakistani ambassadors and high commissioners serving in Africa to Islamabad in the last week of this month to discuss the prospects of increasing exports there.

“We are looking for considerable market access in Africa which has a great potential for which all our ambassadors and high commissioners have been asked to be in the capital in the last week of May for serious deliberations,” said Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood.

Talking to Dawn here on Friday, he said that issues like anti-dumping, countervailing, new WTO regime, safeguard measures and removal of undue barriers for Pakistani exports would be discussed threadbare during the meeting.

Bilateral issues with African countries, he pointed out, would also come up for discussion specially with a view to achieving increased market excess for Pakistani exports in the African continent.

He regretted that Pakistan has not been able to achieve some better export market in Africa and the successive governments only paid lip-service in this regard. “I would also say here that our government too could not do something to enhance our exports in that continent,” he admitted.

Responding to a question, he said that $10 billion export target had become a psychological barrier for Pakistan for the last many years. “Had there been no September 11, we would have achieved the $10 billion export target for the current financial year.” He said the government was now hoping to have $8.9 billion to $9 billion exports during 2001-2002. For 2002-2003, he said, the export target of $10.2 billion was being envisaged, “and we will make sure that it is achieved at all costs.”

The commerce minister said that tariffs were being reduced from 30 to 25 per cent in the next budget which would not be further reduced.

“But we plan to reduce 5 to 10 per cent import tariff for various kinds of raw materials,” he said, adding that reports of 18 committees had been received by him on various sectors, including engineering, chemicals, textiles, glass, ceramics and papers, to be offered different kinds of concessions in the new trade policy.

In reply to a question, Razak Dawood said that there had been 57 per cent increase in the value addition of textile products, which he termed as “very good”.

He said that export of rice had gone down because of reduction in the international prices. However, he pointed out that there had been an increase in the export of leather and textile products, petroleum and engineering goods. “But the exports of fruits and vegetables, fisheries, gems and jewellry did not increase despite lot of expectations,” he said.

The minister said that footwear export had increased to $50 million, which was encouraging.

Razak Dawood said that remittances had increased and were likely to be enhanced further during the next financial year.

Generally, he said that things were improving despite the fact that there was a world-wide recession and major economies were experiencing low growth.

The new trade policy, he said, was being conceived in such a manner that it should further facilitate the country’s exporters and businessmen.