An economic opportunity that needs to be cashed-in
The past few years haven’t been too good for the country not just for the general law and order situation but also for the industry in the country. Power outages, gas shortage and strikes, along with production side problems like rising cost of raw materials and untrained non-technical labour, have held industrial progress and growth hostage for some time. This was however aggravated with the European Union and the United States not offering preferential treatment to Pakistani exports. Already reeling under the effects of war on terror, Pakistan needs an economic boost to revive its industries and realise its potential as an economically viable country.
In a move that should delight the Pakistani industrialists and the government, the Danish Ambassador to Pakistan, Jesper Moller Sorensen, has said that the European Parliament is most likely to grant GSP Plus (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) status to Pakistan in its forthcoming meeting scheduled for December 2013. Islamabad has been pursuing the status for quite some time and now that it is being granted, Pakistan would be able to gain better and wider access to the EU markets. After attaining the GSP Plus, Pakistani exports to the European markets would get a considerable boost while the country could also work for the EU countries as a lucrative market having enormous investment potential due to low labour cost, rising middle class and a very large youth demographic. The move is supposed to create almost a million jobs in the country across the industrial sector. Though the GSP Plus status may have come on its own, the efforts of British lawmakers of Pakistani origin must be acknowledged for getting it fast-tracked. The incumbent Governor Punjab Ch Muhammad Sarwar’s statement that he would make efforts to get the bill granting the said status passed by the EU Parliament is a welcome one.
All is not done yet, though. Pakistan has to prove that its exports are worth the status, that it has the potential to step up and rise beyond that by displaying willingness to adapt and enhance its industrial sector a few notches further to turn it into a dynamic, competent and competitive force in the international market. Pakistan has great potential in dairy, agriculture, sports and medical equipment, fruit, leather, fish and textile sectors, among others. But to make exports in these sectors amount to something, the government and the PCCI need to introduce standardisation. They also need to invest in necessary infrastructure that is required to ensure quality. The country also needs to improve and enforce factory laws relating to security of workers. Any neglect could lead to the cancellation of GSP Plus status as happened in the case of Bangladesh last year after factory fires there.
