The newly announced trade policy would serve as a booster to the existing export industry, said Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President Mian Humayun Parvez on Friday.

He said that despite immense potential, the South and Central Asian regions are among the least integrated regions of the world. It was encouraging that the government targeted key markets like Iran, China, Afghanistan and European Union.

The intra-regional trade was less than 5% primarily caused by high costs due to low infrastructure facilities, energy crisis, missing links and lack of transit agreements, he added.

If they improve trade relations with Afghanistan, they will easily jump into Central Asian countries. The government had set an export target of $35 billion, which was quite achievable if energy projects are completed in time, he said, urging the government to fulfill its commitment to release refunds claims of exporters by March 31.

The RCCI president also called for improvement in market research, infrastructure, skill development, reforms in taxation/custom duties, skilled workforce, transportation links and use of information technology.

The government should encourage the information technology sector, which can boost the exports to new heights if this sector is regulated and taxed with soft hands.

He urged the government to venture into new avenues of revenue generation instead sticking to the conventional export sectors like agriculture and textile.