LAHORE: Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Chief Executive Syed Mohibullah Shah has said Pakistan can enhance its exports by upgrading its export potential of products where it has competitive advantage and increasing market share in traditional as well as non-traditional markets.
At a workshop on ‘Global economy: meeting challenges by Pakistan’ organised for the Lahore Economic Journalists Association at the TDAP office here on Wednesday, Shah said Pakistan lagged behind because it had not worked in synergy with the forces of industrial revolution.
Billions of dollars coming to the country after 9/11 were squandered on unnecessary imports creating trade deficit instead of developing capacity for increasing exports.
Up to $8 billion had been spent on the import of cellular phones despite the fact that a cellular phone manufacturing factory could be established at a cost of $250 million here in Pakistan. The country had more than 100 million cell phones at present, he said.
He said historically over the last five decades, specifically in 1949-2000, Pakistan’s exports had grown by an average 10.4 per annum whereas imports had grown by an average 9.7 per cent. He said that fundamental reforms were needed to liberate the entrepreneurship from the colonial medieval structures. Pakistan could increase its agricultural production from its available land and water four times by adopting better management and production techniques. A stone being sold for $100 could fetch $10,000 if it was marketed after proper cutting and polishing, he said.
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