Pak to register exporters on Amazon to boost cash-strapped economy

Pakistans economic crisis and the towering burden of external debts have been hit hard by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, pushing the countrys growth for the current fiscal year to negative figures, as per the estimates of global financial bodies.

While the country's business community is raising serious reservations over the Imran Khan government for negating the provision of 'ease of doing business' to help recover the country's strangled economic condition, the Pakistan government has started damage control action by initiating the process of registering at least 38 of the country's goods sellers and exporters with the US based e-commerce giant Amazon.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razzak Dawood, said that "the initial list of 38 exporters comprises surgical, sports goods and home textile sectors," adding that the list will be expanded to other sectors.

Dawood revealed that the 38 companies have been shortlisted after successful trial.

While Pakistan's step towards promotion of e-commerce through government-led policy making is being widely appreciated by global trade bodies like the World Trade Organization (WTO), analysts believe that the presence of coronavirus has shrunk global economies, brushing aside most of the businesses, making e-commerce based business more challenging for the Pakistani exporters.

However, Dawood maintained that e-commerce based business has become even more important as it has increased manifold, making it a pivotal and vital sector for the economy.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has formed a regulatory framework to facilitate B2C (Business to Consumer) e-commerce based business, which it said would be integrated with the e-commerce model, developed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in the Web-based One Customs (WeBOC) system.

Pakistan's economic crisis has been soaring with external debts repayments, devaluation of rupee against dollar, and the current outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, pushing the financial structure towards a virtual bankruptcy.

Pakistan's GDP growth stood at 1.9 per cent in the previous financial year, and has fallen to to an estimated -0.38 per cent for the current fiscal.

Financial experts believe that growth will fall down further to at least -3.2 per cent, triggering widespread joblessness, poverty and sufferings for millions of Pakistanis.

Going on to Amazon will be a positive step for Islamabad as the country explores initiatives to promote e-commerce, in an attempt to handle and settle its economic indicators to positive trends in the financial market.

( With inputs from IANS )