Select the option that is the direct form of the sentence.

Experts said that several steps were being taken to promote foreign trade as it constituted 45% of the country’s economy.

Experts said, “Several steps are being taken to promote foreign trade as it constitutes 45% of the country’s economy”.

The direct form of the sentence is:

Experts said, "Several steps are being taken to promote foreign trade as it constitutes 45% of the country's economy."

The other options are incorrect:

• "Experts are saying, 'Several steps were taken to promote foreign trade as it constituted 45% of the country's economy.'" This is incorrect because the tense of the reported statement is in the past tense, but the reporting verb is in the present tense. This means that the reported statement is describing an action that happened before the reporting verb, but the tense of the reported statement is not changed to reflect this.
• "Experts said, 'Several steps should be taken to promote foreign trade as they constitute 45% of the country's economy.'" This is incorrect because the tense of the reported statement is in the present tense, but the reporting verb is in the past tense. This means that the reported statement is describing an action that is happening in the present, but the speaker is talking about the past.
• "Experts said, 'Several steps had been taken for promoting foreign trade as it constitute 45% of the country's economy.'" This is incorrect because the tense of the reported statement is in the past perfect tense, but the reporting verb is in the past tense. This means that the reported statement is describing an action that happened before the reporting verb and another action that also happened before the reporting verb.