Pakistan and its South Asian neighbours could become the fastest growing exporting region of the world if authorities implement a set of policy actions aimed at improving the business environment, leveraging clusters, and strengthening firm capabilities, says a new World Bank report – South Asia’s Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse.
The report argues that increasing productivity of firms is the only sustainable path in improving competitiveness. Today, a broad set of constraints limit the growth and export potential of Pakistani firms vis-à-vis their competitors in East Asia and the rest of the world. In order to address these, the report highlights the well-known challenges in the region’s investment climate, but more importantly draws attention to the role of cities and clusters, global value chains, and firms’ abilities to innovate and efficient use of resources, including technology.
The region’s great potential to boost its competitiveness is evidenced through a number of examples in the report, ranging from the highly successful apparel industries in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to Pakistan’s light manufacturing cluster in Sialkot which has achieved dominant global market shares in products such as soccer balls and surgical instruments.
“Pakistan, in particular, has important strategic endowments and development potential”, says Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank’s country director for Pakistan.
Pakistan leads many global competitors when it comes to wage competitiveness and proximity to key markets yet continues to experience weakening in exports competitiveness. Exports remain concentrated in the textiles and food sectors and investment in global value chain capabilities including capital, human capital, institutions and logistics remain limited.
“The region has a significant untapped potential in raising productivity through development of urban ecosystems providing thick markets for skilled labor, large tracts of industrial land, and world class logistics,” says Vincent Palmade, the report’s co-author.
With the right set of productivity-enhancing policies, South Asia could more than triple its share in global markets of electronics and motor vehicles and come close to doubling its already significant market share in apparel (excluding textiles and leather) by 2030.
To achieve that progress, South Asian countries, Pakistan in particular, must do well to improve their business environment. As acknowledged in the recent World Bank’s Doing Business report, the implementation of needed reforms is gaining momentum, and needs to be accelerated. Pakistan should also leverage the benefits of its cities clusters by actively mitigating congestion forces and facilitating access to industrial land.
Expanded participation in global value chains to markets through improvements in trade policies, logistics, and skills will also be beneficial. The report also calls for helping firms innovate, improve their managerial capabilities, and use technology to better connect with customers and suppliers for boosting competitiveness.
you mention Pakistan just like it is the only country in south Asia or say in world matters. Ha ha!! You always look the brighter side, dark is ” your finance minister has only postponed the default of economy, you can say that I have build up my foreign reserves but actually in fact much of the reserve is foreign debt”.
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