KARACHI: Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi has announced that the coronavirus-related supplies will be exempted from taxes at ports.
Talking to journalists in Karachi today (Thursday), Ali Zaidi said that no taxes would be charged from life-saving items, masks, and sanitizers.
“We have improved capacity at all Karachi ports to facilitate arrival of coronavirus-related medical supplies,” he added.
He also said that they will also not receive any charges under port demurrage till April 15 from traders.
The federal minister also informed that they had already sent all daily-wage employees on holidays and only essential staffers are called for duties.
Ali Zaidi also said that the ministry has already shifted to E-Systems and now they do not maintain any paperwork.
He said, “Around 90 percent of the shipments come via ports and if it’s closed down then it could badly hurt our foreign reserves.”
It is worth mentioning here that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced a major relief on import of medical equipment and machines aimed at tackling the spread of coronavirus pandemic.