ISLAMABAD, (Parliament Times) : The Pakistan Industrial and
Traders Association Front chairman Mian Nauman Kabir has asked
the government to focus on accelerating exports volumes and
prioritize the trade issues with a view to achieve consistency in current
account surplus, otherwise, the economic problems and balance of
payment could further disturb.
The PIAF chairman, in a joint statement along with vice chairman
Javed Siddiqi, said the low exports volume and rising trade deficit
were chronicle issues which should be resolved permanently. He said
exportable items should be produced in accordance with the
international demand to fully exploit the benefit of GSP-Plus status.
He said that several industries and sectors were neglected in past. He
said decisions should be made in national interest, keeping aside the
personal agenda. Mian Nauman Kabir called for a holistic approach to
speed up economic growth, as COVID-19 has adversely impacted the
world’s economy as well as Pakistan’s trade and industrial sectors.
The PIAF Chairman said the government has already missed its
annual export target for the first two years. For the current fiscal year,
the export target was reset at $27.7 billion, requiring at least 6 percent
growth. He said the government has to formulate long-term and
consistent policies for the revival of industry and considerable
improvement in exports, as contrary to regional countries, Pakistan’s
exports have remained stagnant during the past 40 years, and unless
attention was paid to all factors that hamper industrial and exports
growth, the country might not be able to achieve desired results. Some
of the impediments to industrial growth include cost of production,
poor governance, obsolete technology, lower productivity, lack of
competitiveness, supply constraints, and energy issues.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that the current export portfolio is marred by
a lack of diversification, as few products are exported by some
exporters to limited markets. So, a major enhancement in exports
requires huge and wide structural reforms.
PIAF vice chairman Javed Siddiqi said that in 2019-20, the LSM
output had fallen alarmingly by 10.17 percent yearly. The industrial
production after suffering months of damage inflicted by the corona
pandemic is now clearly reflecting a revival in economic activities in
the country. For the current fiscal year, the government had set the
economic growth target at 2.1 percent, which will be better in the
current economic situation but is not enough to create jobs for a
growing population.
Javed Siddiqi said that a quick turnaround can come from increasing
competiveness of the existing export base and demand-led production
of agricultural products, especially high value agriculture products.
The long-term strategy needs structural reforms of the entire export
sector, including high tech and innovative products, value-added
exports commodities and market diversification towards unexplored
markets like South America and Africa.
It is to be noted that the recent current account surplus had emerged on
the back of a sustained increase in remittances and a smaller trade
deficit, as since the start of this fiscal year in July, the cumulative
current account surplus has reached $1.2 billion, reversing the $1.4bn
deficit recorded in the same period last year. He said that the country’s
current account has been helped by a significant increase in
remittances during the current fiscal year.