Overview
- Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan has directed the Directorate General Trade Organisations to enforce transparency and neutrality in the 2026–28 elections for chambers of commerce and trade associations through legal, institutional and digital reforms.
- The DGTO must build a dedicated elections portal on the Ministry of Commerce website and a real-time dashboard to publish election schedules, laws, final voter lists and results while requiring organisations to submit voter lists and results in soft-copy format.
- The DGTO has been reinforced with extra staff and officers from the commerce ministry, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and State Life Insurance Corporation will serve as independent observers and witnesses during polling and counting.
- The election cycle covers roughly 320 of about 380 registered trade organisations through September 30, 2026, with Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry voting scheduled for October–December 2026, and the ministry is coordinating provincial administrative and security support for larger polling venues.
- The measures follow recent amendments to the Trade Organisations Act and aim to reduce disputed outcomes by improving documentation, standard operating procedures, and publicly accessible records that let businesses and regulators verify results.