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HYDERABAD, Dec 18 (APP):The President Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders & Small Industry (HCSTSI) Muhammad Saleem Memon participated in the Stakeholders’ Consultative Session on the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2025–30 held via Zoom. The Secretary General of HCSTSI Furqan Ahmed Lodhi also participated along with him.
The consultative meeting was organized by the Ministry of Commerce & Industries, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad and was chaired by the Deputy Chief (Trade Policy) Atta Ullah, and the Deputy Director (Trade Policy) Sarah Tassaduq was also present during the session.
According to a statement issued by the secretary general of HCSTSI here on Thursday, during the meeting, President HCSTSI Saleem Memon highlighted the critical trade and industrial challenges being faced by the business community of Pakistan, particularly traders and industrialists of Hyderabad.
He stated that exporters often fail to receive their legitimate profits in a timely manner due to complex official procedures and restrictive banking policies. Delays in refunds and payments have severely demoralized the business community, discouraging efforts to enhance exports.
He emphasized the urgent need for an efficient and fast-track mechanism to ensure smooth and timely export-related financial transactions.
Memon pointed out that Pakistani companies were manufacturing quality products in the automotive sector, which had strong export potential to Egypt and several African countries. However, he stressed that this potential can only be realized if the government facilitates the business community through simplified visa policies and improved access to international markets.
He also underlined that in order to compete effectively in the international market, it was essential to reduce manufacturing costs. This can only be achieved by ensuring the availability of electricity and gas at affordable rates with uninterrupted supply to industries. High energy costs, he noted, were rendering Pakistani products uncompetitive in global markets.
The HCSTSI President also compared Pakistan’s export performance with that of other developing and smaller countries, observing that despite Pakistan’s vast industrial potential and skilled manpower, the country had been unable to achieve desired export growth, while, other nations had performed significantly better due to supportive policies, strong industrial infrastructure and effective export facilitation mechanisms.
On this occasion, the Deputy Chief (Trade Policy) Atta Ullah appreciated the valuable suggestions presented by the Hyderabad Chamber. He reaffirmed that the ministry of commerce believes in actively engaging chambers of commerce in national policy formulation to ensure ease of doing business. He assured that the recommendations put forward by HCSTSI would be duly considered and incorporated into national-level policies.
He further highlighted the participants that only six trade bodies from across Pakistan were selected to participate in this consultative process, and HCSTSI was one of them. This, he noted, reflects the importance and credibility of HCSTSI’s consistent, constructive and effective recommendations on national trade and export-related issues.