The PSATF delegation, led by its chairman, Mr. Muhammad Rafiq Memon, had a productive meeting with Mr. Zubair Motiwala, the CEO of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), on Monday. During the meeting, the PSATF delegation discussed Africa’s potential of a 3.1 trillion dollar economy versus Pakistan’s exports to Africa, which is just about 2.0 billion dollars. The main hurdles to exports from Pakistan are high duty structures, for example, import duty in South Africa are Apparel @ 40%, Yarn @ 15% and Fabrics @ 22%.

It was informed in the meeting that Pakistan has a presence in only 20 countries out of 54 countries in Africa. In contrast, Africa has an Opportunity 3.1 trillion-dollar GDP, which is expected to reach the mark of $26 Trillion by 2050, according to the report of the World Bank. The chairman of PSATF stressed the need to sign PTA and FTA with the top 10 economies in Africa and other high-growth countries to increase the trade volume between Pakistan, Southern Africa, and East Africa.

He said the PASTF will strive to achieve this target of $50 billion in exports of Pakistani products and services to the African region by 2030. The government of Pakistan can have a strong engagement policy with leading African economies. The meeting also decided that a joint press conference with PSATF and CEO TDAP will be organized shortly to create awareness about Africa’s Opportunities.

Mr. Rafiq Memon also highlighted the recent productive discussions held with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the Board of Investment (BOI) in Islamabad, focused on PSATF’s trade and investment promotion activities.