PAKISTAN has launched its first National Economic Mission, titled Export Acceleration, Production, Quality, Innovation and Branding, with targets of $63 billion in exports by 2030 and $100 billion by 2035. Minister for Planning Prof. Ahsan Iqbal chaired the mission’s inaugural high-level meeting in Islamabad, which brought together federal ministries and key stakeholders to develop a coordinated, time-bound roadmap to make Pakistan a globally competitive export economy. Participating ministries and stakeholders agreed on the need for a coordinated national approach and identified priority areas for the mission’s roadmap, including export diversification, industrial productivity, value addition, quality standards, innovation, branding, market access, cluster development and stronger integration with global value chains.
Increasing exports to $63 billion in four years and $100 billion in nine years seems to be an ambitious target given the fact that the total exports of the country remained at $30 billion during the financial year 2025-26, showing a year-on-year decrease of 5.93% compared to the previous year. The country witnessed a trade deficit of $39.5 billion as the economy relies heavily on imported energy, machinery and industrial raw materials, while exports remain concentrated in low value-added products such as textiles. This state of affairs is regrettable as the trade deficit is widening in the face of increasing imports and shrinking exports despite a host of measures announced by the Government as well as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to stimulate production and accelerate exports. The overwhelming reliance on the textile sector, which has its own limitations, underlines the need for export diversification but this is deeply linked with the governmental policies to promote other sectors, especially IT and value addition in the mineral sector besides overall emphasis on industrialization and indigenization. Isn’t it a myopic approach that instead of attracting investment in sectors that could help realize the cherished objective of import substitution and push up exports, we continue to sell viable and profitable assets of the country through the questionable process of privatization. Instead the Government will have to find an answer to the question as to why companies including reputable firms are quitting Pakistan’s market and relocating to other destinations. Why could the country not attract fresh investment the way it was originally envisaged when a high powered platform Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was created to deal with investment related issues in a focused manner? We have been emphasizing in these columns throughout that there will be no meaningful industrialization or an increase in the production base without genuine measures aimed at bringing down the cost of production and doing business.
At the same time, there should be national focus on improving law and order particularly in Balochistan and KP as investment is closely linked to peace and security. The plan prepared by the Government has the potential to produce desired results only if these two aspects are addressed on a priority basis through fiscal, regulatory, administrative and political processes. Otherwise, it is encouraging that the mission aims to diversify Pakistan’s export base beyond traditional products and markets, strengthen links with global value chains and promote export growth through industrial clusters and special economic zones (SEZs), including in non-traditional markets. Under the National Brand Pakistan pillar, the government aims to build ‘Made in Pakistan’ into a trusted global brand. It is a step in the right direction to use Pakistan’s diplomatic presence more effectively to secure trade deals, improve market access and create export opportunities, particularly in non-traditional and high-potential markets. This is important in the backdrop of widely-held perception that the country has so far not been able to secure favourable trade deals and arrangements despite a sea-change in its global diplomatic stature. A comprehensive implementation roadmap with specific targets, timelines and institutional responsibilities should be drawn without wastage of further time and pursued rigorously.
