KARACHI: The government must consider limiting the use of dry ports in the country especially for exports.

It would boost exports but also restore Pakistan’s image which is being tarnished because of misdeclaration of imports and even disappearance of containers of imported goods from dry ports without clearance.

This was stated by Saeed Shafiq, former president of KCCI while briefing a group of journalists about challenges being faced by the steel industry in Pakistan.

He said that the menace of misdeclaration is not only causing loss of billion annually to the national exchequer, but also hurting importers who are paying taxes, as well as local manufacturers who are finding it hard to survive as misdeclared imports are being sold at 50-60 per cent reduced rates than the products produced locally.

Mr Saeed further said that dry ports world over are used to facilitate exports but in Pakistan these are being used mainly for imports which are not even slightly beneficial for the economy, says a press release.