USAID Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA) Monthly Progress Report April 2018

This objective supports the achievement of Development Objective (DO) no. 2 from USAID/Pakistan's Mission Strategy: "Improving Economic Status of Focus Populations and Sectors." Focusing primarily on trade promotion and facilitation, PREIA will collaborate with public and private sector stakeholders in Pakistan to improve the international trade environment, resulting in increased trade and transit volumes. PREIA supports relevant public and private sector stakeholders in Pakistan to augment the Government of Pakistan's (GoP) ability to develop and implement reforms for policies, laws, and regulations, ultimately improving Pakistan's trade enabling environment. The activity also aims to improve private sector and civil society's engagement in policy-making for inclusive, effective, and transparent trade-related policy development and implementation. Additionally, PREIA seeks to improve regional trade and transit facilitation by Customs for increased capacity to access regional markets and establish regional business-to-business linkages for improved regional trade and economic connectivity. During April 2018, PREIA made progress in staffing and recruitment, with Mr. Muhammad Saleem joining as a Consultant - Customs Manual Development on May 1, 2018. Procurement and operations continued, with pro-forma invoices for nine procured items/services being processed with the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) through USAID to seek a GST exemption. A call for Expression of Interest (EoI) was published for the hiring of a Policy Specialist to assist in the development of a training module and conduct single-day trainings in three cities under the cross-cutting Program entitled "Women Leadership in Trade Policy (WLTP)". An EoI was also published to create a shortlist of firms for organizing the "Made in Pakistan" Trade Expo in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The overall security situation in the country improved in April 2018, with all provinces showing various levels of reduction in the number of fatalities resulting from violence. However, the military operation in Karachi continues, and many districts of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have become frequent targets of militancy. PREIA's security team maintains regular interaction with informative networks to remain vigilant and protect its staff by minimizing preventable risk. The security situation in the forthcoming months is assessed to remain sensitive, with ongoing combing operations by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) against militants potentially resulting in retaliation by militant groups. PREIA's security team is working to protect its staff and minimize preventable risk, enabling the implementation of project activities. The activity's security situation is closely monitored, and PREIA remains vigilant in its efforts to ensure the safety of its staff and the success of its objectives.