The Planning Commission has identified 10 major areas to cut down wastage through prudent use of natural resources and give a further boost to the economy. These were agriculture, water resources, industry, quality education, transportation, infrastructure (roads network), airports, ports and shipping facilities, railways, energy and social sector.
Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) 2005-10 is serving as a catalyst for effective implementation of the strategy. MTDF, launched in July last year, mentioned that the national economy suffers $12 to 14 billion loss annually due to wastage in different key sectors. It clearly indicated that agriculture, manufacturing, water resources, transportation, education and health were some of the major loosing areas.
During a talk with Business Recorder on Thursday, a planning commission official said a multi-pronged strategy was being actively pursued for improvement in all identified areas by cutting down losses to the economy. Conservation of water resources is vital for quick economic growth and the strategy deals with the issue on emergency basis.
The official said to conserve water and reduce its losses, the government initiated a programme worth Rs 62 billion for lining of water courses and irrigation channels and canals were being streamlined to stop wastage of water.
Building up of five mega dams to stop water going into sea is also a major initiative and it will address the issue of water shortage on long-term basis.
To supplement these efforts, large number of small dams in NWFP and Balochistan were being funded by the federal government. These projects will save 16 million acre feet (MAF) water that is either simply going waste or running down into sea during the monsoon season. The official was of the view water conservation alone can give great boost to the national economy and its benefit to the people in terms of income could be around $5 billion.
Transport is another area where Pakistan is performing very poorly. The World Bank's study indicated poor transport system and dilapidated road network was causing huge loses to Pakistan's economy. The government has undertaken a programme at a cost of Rs 350 billion for improving national transport system.
Ports, highways, airports and railways modernisation are also important part of the strategy and the official are pretty confident that its effective implementation can reduce losses/cost of doing business considerably.
The industrial sector is also another area, which is a focal point of the strategy.
The official said industrial wastage are due to low productivity of labour and to address the issue, National Productivity Organisation (NPO) is taking various steps, including vocational training and skill development.
The investment in the higher education has been increased from Rs 0.9 billion in 2000-01 to Rs 16.3 billion for 2006-07. Policy-makers are stressing the need of quality education and knowledge-based economy and these objectives could only be achieved by investing in education.
MTDF speaks of its importance and shows the budget for higher education will go up to Rs 28 billion by 2010.
The strategy also indicates huge losses in the agriculture sector and gives top priority to cut down wastage in this area. The official said the planning commission's strategy is to reduce wastage in agriculture through better handling of crops, balanced use of fertiliser and certified seeds use. He said research findings have shown that balanced fertilisers can give additional benefit of Rs 125 billion in only four major crops (wheat, rice, maize, sugarcane).
A 25-year energy development plan has been launched to ensure supply of power to all consumers' categories and at the same time Wapda and KESC have initiated various programmes to reduce losses.
MTDF indicated the federal government will spend over Rs 600 billion on social sectors such as health and education to improve living standard of the people.