MTI advices Pakistan on WTO Agreement; taps into Sri Lankan expert panel

Monday, 18 October 2021 02:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MTI CEO Hilmy Cader and MTI’s Panel of Experts: Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, Reshan Dewapura and Anushka Wijesinha

MTI Consulting has just completed an assignment to independently reviewing possible repercussions and opportunities for Pakistan’s economy in case it decides to accede to WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA).

The scope of the mandate was to evaluate how the liberalisation entailed under ITA would contribute to export competitiveness of Pakistan’s IT sector and help it integrate with regional and global supply chains. The mandate also included an evaluation of possible impact on employment, revenue collection and access to better IT products for Pakistani entrepreneurs and industry.

The project has been initiated under the Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA). PREIA is a USAID-funded activity/project which intends to further the development of the country’s trade sector by improving Pakistan’s competitiveness in international markets.

PREIA is implemented by the private development company, DAI (under one of their integrated solutions, i.e. ‘economic growth’. PREIA is closely working with Ministry of Commerce and private sector to generate sustainable and inclusive economic growth by promoting e-commerce.

The ITA, initially implemented in 1996, is the most significant tariff liberalisation arrangement negotiated in the WTO after its establishment in 1995. It has 82 signatories. ITA’s IT product list covers 97% of world trade in IT products. 2015 saw the expansion of the ITA. The agreement was expanded to include an additional list of 201 products.

MTI’s Panel of Experts for this project included former ICTA Chair Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, former ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura and International Trade Competitiveness Specialist Anushka Wijesinha. “We wish to acknowledge the contribution made by our international panel of international trade specialists,” said MTI Consulting CEO Hilmy Cader.

MTI is an internationally-networked boutique management consultancy – having carried out 670 projects across 49 countries – in the last 24 years. MTI’s practices cover strategy, operations, corporate finance and digital and analytics.

MTI has been at the forefront of thought leadership on strategy, having conceptualised breakthrough models and paradigms that challenges conventional thinking and practices. These have been internationally published and have been presented at over 150 conferences around the world.