Provided by Bank Alfalah Limited.

Objective: An essential component of growing your business involves selling your product in the international Market. In order to do so, a business may avail exporting facilities from Banks. The following are the primary steps involved in the Export Process:

The first step towards exporting a Product involves printing a Letter Head of the company to open an account with a Bank from which the Business chooses to avail exporting facilities. Before a business starts exporting, it’s crucial for it to have the following registrations:
1. National Tax Number (NTN)
2. Sales Tax
3. Association Membership with Chamber of Commerce
4. Custom WeBOC (Step 8) A business must then find potential buyers to whom it can export its products. It can find buyers through the following sources:
1. Agents
2. Internet
3. Trade Fairs
4. Personal Visits
5. Personal Contacts Once the Business (Exporter) has found a potential Buyer, it must then send them a quotation. A quotation is a written statement containing an offer to sell goods at a particular price and other terms of Trade. The buyer and Exporter may then negotiate on the terms mentioned in the quotation to reach a mutual agreement. Once the Business (Exporter) and the Buyer reach an agreement on the Terms of Trade, the Business (Exporter) must then send its buyer a Performa Invoice. A Performa invoice is a sample invoice that an exporter provides to the buyer prior to the sale/transportation of goods, clearly mentioning all the terms of Trade. While preparing a Performa invoice, the Business must categorically mention the following factors:

1. Unique Performa Invoice Number
2. Date of writing the invoice
3. Product Description
4. Product Price
5. Product Quantity
6. Time Period for which the Quotation is Valid
7. Certification Documents required by the Importer Country
8. Authorized Signature by Exporter Company
9. Terms of Payments:
   • Option 1: Advance Payment
     Definition: Payment made before the Goods are shipped.
   • Option 2: Documentary Collection
     Definition: Exporter sends the documents through the Banking channel and receives the payment through the Banking Channels subject to the terms and conditions.
   • Option 3: Letter of Credit
   • Definition: When the Buyers Bank Guarantees Payment on his behalf, provided the exporter meets the defined conditions and submits the required documents within the fixed time frame
10. Incoterms (2010):
    The international commercial terms (Incoterms) determine the point where the responsibility of taxes, duties, transportation cost and insurance shift from the seller to the buyer. For further information on Incoterms, please click on the link provided below:http://www.iccwbo.org/products-and-services/trade-facilitation/incoterms-2010/the-incoterms-rules/
11. Mode of Transportation: The exporter must decide between the following modes to determine:
    1. Air
    2. Sea
    3. Road
    4. Rail

Upon sending the Performa invoice to the Buyer, the exporter must then wait to receive a letter of credit from him through the advising Bank. Once the advising bank receives the Letter of Credit from the buyer, it contacts the exporter to collect it. The letter of credit will be used by the exporter to collect the payment from his/her buyer. If the exporter wants to avail a financing facility from his/her bank, he/she must get the facility approved and provide the necessary security. transaction for the purpose of Export monitoring.

1. The exporter will initiate a request for an E-form certification through WeBOC. Click on the following link to generate an E-form:
https://www.weboc.gov.pk
2. The Bank Branch that the exporter has assigned in its E-form will then certify the request.

Based on the agreed terms and conditions, the seller must then prepare all necessary documents to transport the goods to the buyer. Once the goods have been shipped, the seller must submit the required documents to its Bank to receive payment.© Bank Alfalah Limited 2016. All rights reserved.