The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have presented a roadmap to the Prime Minister that was developed after profound deliberations for enhancing exports.
LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh presented the document to Prime Minister Imran Khan during a meeting in Islamabad. The document has highlighted the potential of various sectors of economy and has a vast range of proposals, execution of which can push up the export and help country to achieve the target of export-led growth.
According to the LCCI spokesman, Prime Minister Imran Khan valued the LCCI plan and its supportive measure aimed at economic sustainability of the country. He said the role of business community is important as it creates economic activities. The government is committed to facilitating the business community and taking various measures to create an environment conducive for businesses.
Imran Khan said it is our need that business community flourishes in the country. The government wants the business community to grow businesses, make profit and create wealth as a nation cannot prosper if there is no wealth creation. He said that 2020 will be the year of progress and prosperity. The government is taking long-term, mid-term and short-term measures to bring the economy back on the rail. The continuous support and co-operation extended by the business community have significantly improved the health of official revenues that gives me an immense satisfaction, he added.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan's entrepreneurs ensured the economic viability of the state that inherited negligible industrial base at the time of independence. He said that the accelerated growth has been achieved with the cooperation of business community. The government is availing the assistance of private sector under public-private ventures.
LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that exports have a paramount importance in Pakistan's economy as they are the main source of revenue generation (greater than US$20 billion) and employment creation. Exports are also important for maintaining the balance of payment stability for our country, he said.
He, however, said the export performance of Pakistan as compared to other regional economies has been appalling in the last few decades. This can be well illustrated by the export comparison of Pakistan and Turkey in 1980 when the exports of both countries were comparable. The situation is quite converse in recent times, with Turkey having exports of around US$167 billion in 2018 while Pakistan's exports are stagnant around US$24 billion. Turkey's exports are hence more than six times of Pakistan's exports which are only 0.12 percent of world exports as our country ranks 68th in the world exports.
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that the inability of Pakistan exports to tap some of the most dynamic world markets along with high concentration in a few products and low technological level meant that Pakistan's growth rate of exports remained stifled and considerably below than that of other economies.