“The productivity of the business and industrial sector is very low in Pakistan compared with that of India and Bangladesh. Therefore, World Bank (WB) has a plan to prepare Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) in order to facilitate trade and export competitiveness”, said Work Bank Lead Economist Jose Gulherme Reis who was speaking at a reception held by the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI).
Jose Gulherme, the head of the WB delegation was accompanied by Senior Trade Specialist Charles Kunaka and International Trade Department Head Daria Taglioni. The WB officials held meetings with Executive Committee Members and prominent exporters of Faisalabad to gain first hand knowledge of the problems faced by the business and export community. “The main objective of our visit is to interact with the business community of Faisalabad and get feedbacks regarding the present economic situation in Pakistan”, he said. He added that the productivity of the business and industrial sector of Pakistan is very low compared with that of India and Bangladesh. “In this regard, the World Bank has assigned us the task to prepare a CEM consisting of trade facilitation and export competitiveness”, he remarked.
“We are presently working on the preparation and implementation of growth strategy framework that is likely to be approved by the Government of Pakistan”, he announced. “The growth strategy is focused on areas such as innovation and competitiveness, youth development, labour markets and market developments”, he said. He revealed that the WB delegation is going to conduct a study on trade facilitation and export competitiveness for the Planning Commission of Pakistan. Responding to a question Kunaka said that at present there is a desperate need for the Government of Pakistan to emphasise on improving communication and transportation networks by revamping infrastructure such as roads, railways and ports. He particularly mentioned that the services of Pakistan Railways should be improved by upgrading its infrastructure. The delegation members Charles Kunka and Daria also shared their views with the audience and gave an over view of WB’s involvement in various development projects in Pakistan.
Earlier in his welcome address Adhoc Management Committee FCCI Member Rizwan Ashraf appreciated the visit by the World Bank officials and highlighted Pakistan’s economic indicators. Referring to positive trends in the national economy, he said, “As per Economic Survey Report, exports have witnessed an historic growth of 28 per cent, increasing from $18.8 billion last year to $20.2 billion during July 2010-April 2011”. Highlighting some problem areas Ashraf said, “Major challenges that the economy faced during the outgoing fiscal year was an increase in international oil prices and the acute energy crisis, which have also affected the performance of the industrial and manufacturing sector”. He told the visiting delegation that the Government of Pakistan is also making efforts to get access for Pakistani products in the international market, particularly in the European Union and USA. He hoped that Pakistan will be able to win Generalized System of Preference (GSP) plus status thus boosting Pakistan’s exports. “Considering that Pakistan is facing an energy crisis and has a shortage of water resources, we hope that the World Bank’s feasibility reports on power generation and water conservation projects will help overcome the current crisis”, he concluded.
FCCI member Khawaja Amjad said that Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton growing country and its industrial productivity has considerably declined due to the deteriorating law and order situation. He protested that Pakistan has been deprived from its market share in the EU and US markets. Businessman Jamil Ahmad said that Pakistan should emphasise on exploring Mexican and Latin American markets and it was disappointing that Pakistan has no High Commission in Mexico and Peru. He suggested that the World Bank should also initiate programs on Human Resource Development (DRD). The meeting ended with a note of thanks by Mian Zafar Iqbal and the delegation members were presented
with FCCI shields by Mian Ajmal Farooq, Rana Altaf Ahmad and Khwaja Muhammad Amjad.
