Though there are clear signs of improvement in the economic situation, but there is still a long way and the difficulties on almost all fronts are still confronted by stakeholders in all sectors.

The biggest challenge for such countries is how they can maintain their competitiveness at the global level, because as the process of industrial development progresses in a country, the demand for skilled manpower also increases.  In such a situation, to maintain and further improve international integration in supply and value chains, it becomes necessary to increase productivity along with quality, innovation and knowledge creation so that strong competitive advantages can be achieved by keeping production costs to a minimum.

In this context, Pakistan's exports have not been able to go beyond a certain limit in the last decade. In comparison, the exports of other countries in our region have increased significantly during this period. In addition, Pakistan's exports have failed to increase their proportion in the gross national product compared to regional competitors India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. In such a situation, the dream of economic development of the country will not be fulfilled without showing effective performance to increase exports. In this regard, it is necessary to increase productivity in every sector.  Pakistan’s exports have historically been dependent on imported machinery, raw materials and chemicals, due to which, as the growth rate or development accelerates, the pressure on our foreign exchange reserves to pay for imports starts increasing.  

As a result, either restrictions on imports have to be imposed to reduce the growth rate or loans have to be taken from international financial institutions to maintain the balance of external payments. Apart from this, another important source of earning foreign exchange is foreign direct investment.  However, for this too, we are compelled to provide attractive incentives and incentives to foreign companies or countries investing because due to the overall situation in the region and our political situation, Pakistan is very low on the priority list of foreign direct investment.  One reason for this is that the promises made by our governments to attract foreign investment are not possible to implement with the passage of time.  In such a situation, foreign investors are also trying to transfer their profits out of Pakistan as soon as possible, due to which this source of earning foreign exchange has not been able to bring economic stability to us.  The five-year plan that the government has recently presented to increase exports needs to be reorganized keeping in mind these challenges.  For this, it is necessary to reduce dependence on imports to increase exports and focus on developing local alternatives to imported goods or products. Thus, there is a need to increase dependence on local production in industrial raw materials and value chains.  This will not only promote local industry but also increase employment opportunities and save valuable foreign exchange by meeting the needs of local markets. 

In this regard, there is a need to promote the manufacture of agricultural machinery, the availability of certified seeds and the use of natural fertilizers to prevent the misuse of chemical fertilizers and agricultural chemicals.  This change in import policy will help provide a stable macroeconomic environment, as a result of which we will not have to face a shortage of foreign exchange to acquire modern technology required for increasing exports.  In addition, it will also help create a conducive environment for foreign investment in the country. In the last few decades, due to globalization, manufacturing has rapidly shifted to developing countries, due to which many countries are joining global supply and value chains and are on the path of development.

  According to a global study conducted with regardto productivity growth, 60% of countries whose gross productivity growth rate was three to eight percent or more have achieved economic stability, while on the other hand, countries whose gross productivity growth rate was less than three percent are still suffering from economic crisis.  In this regard, Pakistan's average growth rate does not exceed one and a half or two percent. Therefore, to increase exports, there is a need to work on a priority basis for productivity, technology transfer and the preparation of skilled manpower.  This requires investment in the economy, while most of the capital of industrial enterprises in Pakistan is either deposited with the government in the form of refunds or they are forced to spend their resources on acquiring solar energy to meet the challenge of expensive energy. The ratio of local and foreign investment has also declined in Pakistan over the last three decades. The main reason for this is that doing business in our country is becoming more and more difficult with each passing day and now the time has come when the country's large industrial enterprises are preferring to invest abroad to protect their capital and achieve other economic benefits.  This not only makes the future of the industry at the local level uncertain, but also limits employment opportunities. Right now, we need more and more emploments as our youths are in depressing state due to non-availability of jobs. They are running from pillar to post to get jobs but very few are successful in thier endeavours.

As per a global study conducted with regard to productivity growth, 60% of countries whose gross productivity growth rate was three to eight percent or more have achieved economic stability, while on the other hand, countries whose gross productivity growth rate was less than three percent are still suffering from economic crisis. And our country is also in economic melt-down, which needs an all-out approach and coordinated efforts on part of the government and society at large.