Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar chaired the preliminary meeting of Industrial Policy today. The meeting was attended by Secretary Industries and Production and senior officials of Ministry. The consultants of Asian Development Bank and UK-FCDO (Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office) for industrial policy formulation were also present at the meeting. The consultants briefed the meeting on key thematic areas and fundamental metrics of upcoming Industrial Policy. The Minister said that new industrial policy would be focus on enhancement of local production, an increase in value-added exports, and import substitution to ease the chronic problem of trade deficit and spur industrialization to promote jobs in the country. The Minister laid stress to improve manufacturing base of defining industrial sectors including textile, steel, light-engineering, pharmaceuticals, food processing, petrochemicals, fertilisers, pink/rock salt and cement at the level of global competitiveness and productive diversity to harness global export market. The Minister said that we had launched a holistic National SME Policy which would be beneficial for growth of small businesses and industrial units while creating massive opportunities for employment. He added that we need to chalk out the framework to connect competitiveness of SMEs to LSM in upcoming industrial policy. At the conclusion, the Minister directed the senior officials of Ministry of Industries and Production to initiate consultation with stakeholders for an inclusive industrial policy.
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