The major problem facing Pakistan for the last several decades is the fact that our exports are confined to low value-added goods, whereas the major opportunities lie in high technology (high value added) exports.
Pakistan's biggest exports are cotton and textile products, rice, fruits and vegetables, sports goods, and leather products. These low value-added goods account for about 90 percent of our exports sales. In comparison, the exports of Korea are integrated circuits, cars, passenger and cargo ships, and vehicle parts. In the case of Taiwan, the major exports are electronics, basic metals and metal products, plastics and rubber, chemicals, and machinery.
For India, the major exports again are high value-added goods including engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals, electronic goods and software. This illustrates where we have gone wrong and what we must do to change directions so that Pakistan can become a manufacturer and exporter of high value-added high-tech products. A new beginning is urgently needed.
Good vision documents have been prepared in the past including Vision 2010 led by Dr Ahsan Iqbal, Vision 2030 led by Dr Akram Sheikh and the ‘Technology Based Industrial Vision, and Strategy for Pakistan’s Socio-economic Development’ prepared under my charge and approved by the cabinet. These are all excellent documents, but successive governments have lacked the will to implement them....
Read Full Story: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/956793-the-writing-on-the-wall
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