KARACHI - Senate Standing Committee on Commerce, on Wednesday, proposed to establish strategic reserves of essential commodities including wheat and sugar to strike a balance in demand and supply and control their prices for stabilizing the local market. There should be a high-level integrated forum with a legal mandate to make expeditious decisions regarding the import or export of essential commodities at the right time so that appropriate prices and availability of items of daily use could be ensured to the general public, the committee suggested. The meeting of the upper house committee held here at Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), was presided over by the chairman of the standing committee Senator Zeeshan Khanzada. Senator Salim Mandviwala attended the meeting while Senator Fida Muhammad participated online. The Committee Chairman Senator Zeeshan Khanzada observed that Pakistan’s economic stability heavily depended on a significant increase in exports. Though different ministries and organizations were working to achieve the objectives, the need for a forum persists that could make well-informed and integrated decisions about import or export. The decisions for importing wheat, sugar or other required commodities to stabilize the local market were taken at the level of cabinet and Economic Coordination Council following a lengthy process that allowed the situation to further deteriorate while political considerations also affected the decisions, he noted.