2 Ministries Disagree Over Industrial and Export Data

The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industries and Production in Pakistan have been at odds over conflicting figures regarding industrial production and exports. This discrepancy has led the National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce to question the accuracy of government trade statistics and advocate for a unified reporting system.

The disagreement came to light during a meeting chaired by Javed Hanif Khan, the chairman of the committee. Faiz Ahmed Chadhar, the Chief Executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, contended that the industries ministry should concentrate on reporting industrial performance without interfering in trade matters. Commerce officials also raised concerns about the figures presented by Humaira Zia Mufti, an Additional Secretary at the Industries ministry, who asserted that the data originated from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The committee has directed both ministries to align their figures and create a standardized method for reporting industrial production, export performance, and available exportable surpluses. They also questioned the government's decision to import sugar last year and subsequently permit exports of the surplus. Commerce officials informed committee members that around 300,000 tonnes were imported after domestic prices rose, with approximately 200,000 tonnes being used domestically, leaving about 100,000 tonnes for export.

According to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, sugarcane production stood at 97.28 million tonnes during the current year, with 89 sugar mills operating nationwide. The committee has instructed the ministry to supply five years of sugar and wheat import and export data, along with information on the financial impact on the national treasury and domestic prices.

The committee has identified a potential $5.9 billion in untapped export opportunities across 20 high-potential product categories, as revealed by an International Trade Centre analysis. They have called for sector-specific plans to boost export competitiveness and broaden market reach. The committee unanimously approved the Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and discussed the Trade Organizations (Third Amendment) Bill, 2026, introduced by Dr. Farooq Sattar.

They emphasized that chambers should adhere to divisional-level organizational structures rather than district-level ones, and referred the bill to the National Assembly Secretariat’s Legislative Drafting Branch for technical revisions before further discussion.