(28 March, 2018)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said implementing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to enable the existing import system more effective is encouraging in Pakistan. The revenue will be increased to a greater extent and issues pertaining to under invoicing of import goods will be permanently resolved. Expenses associated with paper, printing, reproduction, storage, filing, postage and document retrieval are all reduced or eliminated when you switch to EDI transactions, lowering your transaction costs by at least 35 percent.
Mian Zahid Hussain said despite of various traits of EDI, common masses will face severe increase in price of import goods after its implementation. Some importers use the under invoicing techniques to reduce their cost and transfer the benefit to end user as well. After EDI they will not be able to do so hence the price of different essential goods will experience substantial increase in prices, he added.
The veteran business leader said the Government should take all necessary measures to maintain the prices of import goods even after implementation of EDI, so that the general public may avoid the potential difficulties of the prospective import system. EDI enables faster decision-making and improved responsiveness to changing customer and market demands, and allows businesses to adopt a demand-driven business model rather than a supply-driven one.
The former minister said Government should take all stake holders in confidence before the implementation of the proposed system and also consider the draw-backs of the system including staff training cost, limitation of trade to countries and businesses having EDI, installation charges, system security and protocols, etc. If expected rise in prices could not control in pre-implementation phases of the system, the smuggled goods will intervene the local market, troubling registered traders as well as the Government will face difficulties in achieving duties’ targets.
