ISLAMABAD (July 24 2009): Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is to quiz the Commerce Ministry high-ups on Friday (today) for failure to achieve the export target although the officials spent most of their time on foreign tours pretending to be taking steps for export boost. Trade Policy 2009-12 will also be discussed at a special meeting at Prime Minister Secretariat convened for this purpose. The government had fixed export target for 2008-09 at $22.1 billion but the Commerce Ministry could only achieve 80.5 percent of the target. The sources said Prime Minister Gilani during his visit to the Commerce Ministry a couple of days ago had directed that at least the revised target of $19.2 billion be achieved, but unfortunately the advice of the Prime Minister went unheeded. The Commerce Ministry is proposing 25 percent growth in exports in three years ie 5 percent during 2009-10, 10 percent in 2010-11 and another 10 percent in 2011-12, which means export target for the current fiscal year will be around $19.5 billion. There are a few export sectors, which showed laudable growth in 2008-09. In 2007-08, the Commerce Ministry had fixed export target of $19.2 billion and achieved 99.2 percent ($19.052 billion) but during 2008-09 its performance remained zero. "Setting up of a hedge against any revision in interest rate, insurance of foreign buyers, subsidy on inland freight charges and credit availability for the industrial sector are also under study," the sources added. The government is also considering penalising power distribution companies for not supplying required power to the industry as per the agreement signed at the time of connection. The sources said the Commerce Ministry will also announce incentives for those sectors which showed growth in export during June-July 2008-09. During 2008-09, export of raw cotton declined by 11.7 percent, cotton yarn by 10 percent, knitwear by 8.3 percent, bedwear 7 percent, towels 5.8 percent, tents, canvas and tarpaulin by 11.6 percent and readymade garments by 10.9 percent. Only cotton yarn showed growth of 3.7 percent and cotton carded or combed by 12.3 percent. Food group has shown 6.7 percent growth in exports as export of rice increased by 18.7 percent, oil seeds, nuts and kernels by 667.4 percent, spices by 241 percent, tobacco 859 percent and leguminous vegetables by 111 percent. However, sugar export declined by 92.6 percent. Export of petroleum products and coal during the 2008-09 also declined by 35.5 percent. IMPORTS: According to foreign trade figurers, there was negative growth of 10.5 percent in machinery import but power-generating machinery showed a growth of 48.5 percent to $1148.7 million from $1177.7 million in the same period last year. Construction and mining machinery and electrical machinery also showed a growth of 6.3 and 1.4 percent, respectively. Telecom sector showed 57.2 percent negative growth, of which mobile phone import declined by 77 percent and other apparatus by 47.5 percent. Import of agriculture machinery also showed a negative growth of 24 percent. The statistics further show that import of petroleum products declined by 17 percent from $11462.9 million in 2007-08 to $9509.7 million in 2008-09 for which the petroleum import bill has substantially decreased. One of the officials of the Commerce Ministry told this scribe that this time the Trade Policy may not have any special treatment for Indian products as has been the tradition in the past.