A roadmap has been presented to the Export Advisory Council to jack up overall exports to $100 billion and that of textiles to $50 billion in the next five years. The plan submitted by the textile industry envisages steps for removing barriers and providing incentives to extend the outreach in international markets. The industry proposed a ‘no-cost-no-commitment’ incentive package featuring proposals such as free office spaces for international brands and retailers to encourage their physical presence in Pakistan.
A meaningful increase in exports is the only viable option to address financial and economic woes of Pakistan, therefore, preparation of a roadmap for the purpose is a step in the right direction. Studies done from time to time have concluded that Pakistan has the potential to achieve export targets but regrettably recommendations and proposals firmed up in the past were never implemented in letter and spirit. Exports cannot increase if there is no surplus production, which requires necessary investment for industrialization. It is encouraging that the efforts of the newly formed Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to attract foreign investment have started bearing fruits but a lot will have to be done to restore confidence of the foreign and local investors in a substantial manner. Apart from the problems of law and order and political instability, there should be national consensus on the economic directions of the country. There is also a sharp contradiction in the policies of the government as on the one hand it wants to attract investment but on the other hand the cost of production and doing business is increasing due to unrestrained electricity and gas tariffs. Not to speak of new industries, existing industries are threatening to shut down in the face of discriminatory gas tariff introduced recently. We also claimed to lay focus on IT growth as part of the strategy to increase exports but here again more and more companies are shifting their operations to other countries due to the overall economic and taxation environment. These issues must be seriously looked into by the SIFC and steps taken to address them to the satisfaction of investors and entrepreneurs.
