International Trade Center (ITC) would help the government and the corporate sector to evolve strategy to cope with fast emerging global challenges as the globalisation not only offers new market opportunities but much greater competition.
Businesses and the government both need to intensify their partnership to build and strengthen competitiveness.
This was the upshot of speeches delivered at a seminar, jointly organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and International Trade Center (ITC), here on Tuesday.
Falling trade barriers, lower transport costs and communication technologies blur the lines between domestic and international markets. Whether businesses compete in foreign markets or locally with foreign firms, most of today's firms face sharper competition and are obliged to think more internationally than they have in the past, the speakers said.
Bertrand Jocteur Monrozier and Carlos Rosas of ITC, Secretary Investment Saeed Alvi, LCCI President Mian Shafqat Ali, ITC Coordinator in Pakistan Mohammad Arif and Director Research and Development Ghalib Ata spoke on the occasion.
The organisations that are attending the networking workshop include PSQCA, WTO Reference Centers in Islamabad and Karachi, EPB, Asian Institute of Trade and Development.
The main purpose of the workshop is to develop a worthwhile relation between the reference centers of WTO in Pakistan.
Mian Shafqat Ali, while throwing light on exchange of trade-related information among the global players, said that the opening up and promotion of regional trade would decrease cost of production and it required accurate information, which was accessible only through WTO Reference Center.
Various reference centers working around the world would have a strong information base that would continue to build with the passage of time as business community refers to them for trade related inquiries.
A network of these reference centers can not only become naturally a very vital link for providing efficient services but will also reduce the cost of doing business.
The other speakers said that small businesses needed governmental and institutional backup if they wanted to meet the growing challenges of globalisation. A three-pronged approach ie closer private-public partnership; effective networking of national agencies involved in the value chain; and optimal use of new technologies, can help build and strengthen competitiveness.
The main challenge facing firms is how to take advantage of new resources and markets while dealing with intense and growing global competition.
The challenge facing the governments is how to design and implement supportive policies and strategies. The global economy exposes businesses to intensive competition from lower-cost imports and locally-based foreign firms. Any product or service that a developing country firm offers, has increasingly to meet the price, quality and delivery standards of international markets, they said.
There is a real prospect of winners and losers among firms in developing countries. The double-edged nature of globalisation seems somewhat daunting to businesses and policy-makers alike. It has sparked widespread interest in business competitiveness, business-government partnerships and public policies in the developing countries, they added.
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