The Trading Corporation of Pakistan Limited (TCP) was set up as a private limited company in July, 1967, registered under Companies Act, 1913 (now Companies Act, 2017). The shares of the Corporation are owned by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan. It was the first move by the Government to introduce state trading in the country so as to achieve the following objectives:-

a. Achieve economy of scale by handling bulk transactions; secure advantages of price, freight and port-handling expenses, and prevent leakage of foreign exchange through such malpractices as over/under invoicing, etc.

b. Stabilize market conditions and neutralize effect of high market prices resulting from unwarranted escalation by private importers and, ipso facto, act as a check on disparity between import prices and scarcity prices.

c. TCP act to intervene in the market to forestall shortages of essential commodities and provide the same to the common man at affordable prices. Its price support initiatives are meant to ensure that growers receive fair price for their agricultural products