Platform for commodity exports soon

The Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) will roll out “within a month” the beta version of an e-commerce platform that’ll help commodity producers sell their merchandise directly to global buyers. A wholly owned subsidiary of the country’s only futures exchange, the Global Commodity Trading Platform (GCTP) will operate “just like Amazon”, said PMEX Managing Director Ejaz Ali Shah while speaking to Dawn on Wednesday. The GCTP will allow Pakistani sellers of both agricultural and non-agricultural merchandise to transcend traditional trade finance mechanisms like letters of credit, he said. “The buyer will be able to select a commodity, volume and price on the portal. It’ll also be able to access a complete logistics suite on the same platform without worrying about containers, shipping lines, tracking and certifications. It’ll be a one-window solution,” he said. The platform has handled a few transactions on a test basis. The beta run of the GCTP will consist of a dozen or so transactions, which will be followed by a full-fledged rollout of the e-commerce platform.