The Ministry of Communications (MoC) is all set to give the National Freight and Logistic Policy (NFLP) final touches to ensure the transport of goods at reasonable rates domestically and internationally. The freight and logistics industries are the major enablers of trade and industry, connecting companies to national and foreign markets. In the Logistics Performance Index, however, Pakistan performs poorly, ranking 122nd out of 160 nations. This is due to the fact that Pakistan’s logistics industry is highly fragmented and is in desperate need of modernisation and other relevant problems.
The Ministry of Communications initiated the preparation of the National Freight and Logistics Policy NFLP to complement government investments in the transport sector and to boost its performance, competitiveness and ease of doing business in Pakistan, to help the country’s freight and logistics system meet the demand for goods transport and related supply chains at competitive prices
The initiatives proposed in various policy areas would benefit from the following: I providing a structure for integrating and optimizing different elements of the logistics value chain to ensure smooth multimodal growth of the productive freight and logistics sector; (ii) promoting, modernizing and reforming the freight and logistics industry; (iii) enhancing the country’s competitiveness; (SAARC).
The new policy document was deliberated at a National Conference, according to sources, and finalized via a meeting of the Steering Committee. All related ministries/divisions of the Federal Government, Provincial/Regional Governments, and the private sector have been properly vetted.
The implementation of the policy will be led by a dedicated Secretariat in the Ministry of Communications via specified acts to be performed by federal ministries/divisions and all provincial government departments as described in the policy document.
On December 23, 2020, the Cabinet Division instructed the Ministry of Communications to bring the summary before the ECC, in the first instance, before sending it to the Cabinet.
Sources suggested that when the proposal was submitted for approval before the ECC in January, ECC Chairman Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh postponed policy consideration until the next meeting, ordering the Ministry of Communications to participate in a systematic process of consultation with key stakeholders.
The ministry has begun consultation with the stakeholders, following the ECC’s orders, to finalize it by next week.