Federal Commerce Secretary Munir Qureshi on Thursday said services sector in the country grew by 3.7 percent during financial year 2012-13 and contributed a mammoth 75.7 percent in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the period under review.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Trade and services issues and prospects,’ organised by Ministry of Commerce WTO Wing with an objective to provide a knowledge-sharing forum for stakeholders in consultative and interactive settings, with the aim to enhance services exports from the country.
Qureshi said services sector had emerged as one of the main drivers of economic growth during recent years, adding that export of services from the country contributed over $ 5 billion to Pakistan’s trade during 2012-13. He also highlighted the importance of the services sector and its potential to play a vital role in sustaining economic development by engaging its vast human resources. He said Pakistan had a liberal trade regime and signed many free trade agreements with different countries to promote bilateral trade and investment with these countries. He said to enhance trade and exports from the country, the government had formulated Trade Policy Framework 2012-15, adding that under the framework, the missing institutions was also established to facilitate trade, investment and promote services sector in the country.
The secretary said the seminar would help in decision-making through sharing of knowledge and experiences for development of services sector and enhancement of exports from the country. Speaking on the occasion, Shaista Sohail said a huge potential existed in the services sector trade and a set of measures and regulations was needed to bring the sector at par with international standards. She said local services sector had enough room to fulfil the growing global demand of services in IT, health care, education and other sectors, adding that the artificial distinction should be removed in the international market.
Addressing the seminar, Noman Ishtaq said local financial sector also offered investment opportunities for foreign financial sector and allowed foreign banks to open their branches after approval from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). He said from 2004 to 2012, deposit in local banks had crossed Rs.7 trillion adding that it was recorded at Rs 14 trillion after including lending from the local banks.
