LAHORE: President Dr Arif Alvi has said that Pakistan is making all out efforts for peace in Afghanistan as this will benefit it in a big way. Pakistan would not only be having a good export market but it would ensure access to other neighboring countries, the President said this while addressing the 4th Export Trophy arranged by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
According to the LCCI spokesman, Dr Arif Alvi said the diversification and value addition of products are a must to achieve higher exports and explore the yet untapped global markets, particularly the African region. The president called for use of information technology and artificial intelligence in the agriculture and other businesses to bring more efficiency and profitability.
He said unlike the past, the modern technologies had made it easier for the businessmen to assess the requirements of targeted markets to help design the supply chain accordingly. He said currently Pakistan's exports revolved around cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane, which necessitated the diversification of existing products and investment in modern fields like the information technology.
He told the audience that until 2010, the world's top 10 companies hailed from the oil sector but currently they had been replaced by the IT firms, which manifested the huge scope of the sector. The president also advised the agriculturalists to think out of the box and consider producing sugar from beetroots to replace the sugarcane which burdened the water resources.
He said the flood irrigation of crops caused huge wastage of rain waters which needed to be mended through modern technology to preserve the natural resource. He said under the 10 billion tree tsunami, the government had massively planted olive trees to meet the country's needs as well as opening up export opportunities. The president particularly advised the businessmen to adhere to the principles of morality, honesty and sincerity in their trade across the globe, which ultimately paid back in the long-term.
He said as an initiative to promote Pakistan's fruits abroad, the President House dispatched mango packs to different heads of state along with descriptive pamphlets. He also asked the business community to support the industry workers and create job opportunities for women and differently-abled people. Pakistan has successfully sailed through the COVID-19 pandemic due to Allah Almighty's blessings and support extended to the needy ones by the people as well as the government under the Ehsaas Programme, he added.
LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that in 2019-20 Pakistan's exports stood at US$21.39 billion as compared to US$22.96 billion in 2018-19. It is a matter of concern that Pakistan's export products are heavily concentrated in textiles, rice, leather and few other items. There is a need to diversify our exports, especially focusing on potential sectors like halal food, information technology, engineering industry, surgical instruments, sport goods and pharmaceuticals. In this connection, we recommend the government to establish Export Processing Zones across the country on priority basis.
About the export potential of the IT sector, he said Pakistan has presence of over 5,000 IT companies and call centers and have sufficient number of IT professionals, while every year, almost 20,000 IT graduates are being produced at national level. There is a great potential of taking our IT exports well beyond the current level of one billion dollars. Earlier, Dr Arif Alvi distributed awards amongst the winners.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020