The banking regulator should introduce a low-cost financing scheme under an incentivized policy to support the expansion of made-in-Pakistan brands for substituting the inflows of imported foreign products. said President Federal B Area Association of Trade and Industry (FBATI) Syed Raza Hussain.
Discouraging the consumption of foreign brands is always on the national agenda of any progressive state; however, the bloodshed by the state of Israel against Palestinian citizens in Gaza witnessed an overwhelming shift in consumers’ choices all over the Islamic world and in Pakistan as well, who now in majority prefer national brands over imported foreign items, he mentioned. He remarked that the promotion of national brands is not only a global trend in Muslim countries, but it is also a religious duty and national responsibility for all Pakistanis.
The policymakers should cash in on the trend of masses boycotting of foreign products by introducing a financing scheme, encouraging local industries to expand their local footprint to produce alternate products for domestic as well as export markets, he added. This policy will significantly save the foreign exchange of the country, which is tantamount to a proverb: a penny saved is a penny earned.
President FBATI pointed out that various local brands have reached their maximum production capacity in recent weeks, with a shortage being reported of many items in the local retail markets, such as beverages, soap, dairy products, snacks, confectionaries, detergent, cosmetics, biscuits, and various edible and wearable products, etc. The production of these segments could be enhanced on a medium to large scale in a short span of time, provided a rationally adjusted interest rate financing scheme is introduced to facilitate local industries. He pointed out that the increasing preference of local products over imported foreign brands across the country is always favourable for macroeconomic indicators, especially when it comes to the import bill and current account deficit of the country.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country’s import bill of commodities increased to $55.3 billion in the last financial year (2022–23), which stands more than 100% of our export values. It is high time that policymakers and relevant authorities chalk out a five-year import substitution plan in consultation with stakeholders’ various sectors, including businessmen and industrialists, for the crucial initiative of promoting local brands under the theme of “Be Pakistani, buy Pakistani,” Syed Raza Hussain added. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should come up with a low-cost financing scheme for the construction of small, medium, and medium-large industries at 3–4 per cent for a period of 20 years.
This scheme will encourage local business units to expand industrial units to produce alternate products for the consumption of local markets. “Several industrial zones such as SITE, Nooriabad, National Industrial Park, and Dahabaji are wearing a deserted look, as many owners of the industrial plots are not able to construct buildings for their production units,” because of present exorbitant interest rates, he said and added.
