Pakistan’s leading logistics and supply chain management experts have observed that government’s lack of support to this important sector has been causing a loss of two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per annum. They were addressing participants of 1st International Conference and Exhibition on Logistics and Supply Chain Management. The conference was jointly organised by Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association (PIFFA), Air Cargo Agents Association of Pakistan (ACAAP) and Publicity Channel here at a local hotel. Vice President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries Iftikhar A Malik inaugurated conference. Iftikhar A Malik, while speaking as chief guest, termed logistics and supply chain as the lifeline of economy in the country. He said floods had damaged road infrastructure, which inflicted a heavy loss on road transportation of goods.
However, he also expressed his concern over lack of initiative on part of business community to improve air, sea, and rail and road logistics and supply chain system in the country. He urged private sector to get up and face challenges rather than look for shortcuts. “If a warehouse can be established across the border, then why are freight forwarders sleeping here?” he asked. He added that business community needed to minimise inventory and become the doer and deliverer. While outlining problems faced by logistics and supply chain management, Moin Ahmad Malik, a leading logistics expert and former PIFFA Chairman, revealed that India had been the top ranked nation in the logistics hub owing to implementation of government’s supportive policies and timely decisions. Pakistan, on the contrary, was positioned at the bottom among attractive logistics hub in South East Asian countries, he added. Although trade with India will open opportunities but, he believed, border facilities were least facilitating regional trade. Imports were much higher than exports, which cause trade deficit. He said Railways couldn’t even cater passenger transportation leave alone freight transportation within the country.
He said only available option of goods transportation was through trucking system, which he believed, had also been disintegrated after the present government withdrew previous government’s waiver of 16 to 17 per cent on trucking. This increased cost per trucking unit up to 100 per cent i.e. Rs1.7 million per year, he added. He said trucking was an un-organised sector and corporate sector was not ready to take over this mode of transportation for the simple reason that government had completely ignored this sector.
“The government policies reflect progress by taking one step forward and five steps back in this sector,” he said. He added that rising cost of fuel and electricity coupled with decades old trucks and bad road infrastructure were badly hurting progress of this sector.
He said up to 30 to 35 per cent of the perishable goods like fruits and vegetables during transportation from farm to market were lost due to lack of cold chain system. He emphasised the need to prepare trained human resource by establishing vocational training institutes to streamline road transportation sector in the country.
He stressed the need to make legislation to regulate carriage of goods through air, sea, rail and road routes within and outside the country. “It will help put in place a regulatory mechanism for transport logistics and supply chain in the country,” he stressed, and urged government to recognise freight forwarding as an industry.
Tahir Malik, Chairman ACAAP, also criticised government for failing to cater to improve air freight to support business community, which was contributing billions in taxes every year. He said national carrier didn’t have a single cargo aircraft, and no proper cargo complex was built in Pakistan till 2001. He added that non-availability of shells at air freight units for perishable goods, which resulted in decay of a large quantity of items like mangoes and kinnows are major hurdles towards progress as well.
