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Call for bridging digital gender gap

Slamming the widest digital gender gap in Pakistan, speakers have urged the authorities to provide digital literacy and internet access to girls and women in urban and rural areas. Panellists at the ’Tabadlab Policy Roundtable’ titled’ Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy on Tuesday discussed ways to enhance the PTA’s Digital Inclusion Strategy, which aims to bridge the gender gap in Pakistan’s di

Juice makers demand FED removal

The formal packaged juice industry aims to boost exports to $100 million by 2028 from $15 million, provided the government eliminates federal excise duty (FED). The industry has sent a budget proposal to the commerce ministry seeking support for export facilitation. Currently, packaged juices are exported to more than 30 countries across the world. According to the budget proposal, the domes

5-year roadmap for e-commerce on the cards

The National eCommerce Council (NeCC) on Tuesday decided to develop a five-year roadmap and action plan to promote digital trade. The decision was reached in the council’s 9th meeting, which was chaired by Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan. Various sector representatives also made presentations to highlight impediments to promoting e-commerce. It was decided that the new cross-sectoral pol

Pakistan, Iran fail to boost trade

Pakistan and Iran aim to boost trade to $10 billion, but the bilateral trade plummeted to almost zero during the first 10 months of the outgoing FY24. The State Bank’s latest trade data showed a decade-long trade decline between the two countries, with exports and imports hitting zero in FY22. Trade picked up slightly in FY23 when exports were $75,000, but imports were zero, showing no interest

Auto assemblers demand level playing field

The auto sector has demanded that the government implement measures to curb the rising imports of used cars, which are not only undermining local production but also instrumental in transferring forex through the grey channel. In its budget proposals to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the auto sector said that during 2022-23, the industry imported parts amounting to $1.57 billion and all th