ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Friday urged the government for focusing on promoting high tech industry in order to improve trade and exports.
Talking to a delegation of local industrialists, President ICCI, Atif Ikram Sheikh said the current focus on manufacturing of low value products remained unsuccessful to make Pakistan a worthwhile competitor in international export market.
He said that countries like South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have focused on high tech products due to which their annual exports have exceeded $570 billion, $524 billion and $ 518 billion respectively.
Despite possessing huge natural resources, strategic geographical location and other benefits, Pakistan's exports potential were not fully exploited which need to be translated with its true spirit.
The export of high tech products was on the rise in the world as the share of medium and high tech products in world's manufacturing and trade was more than 65 percent.
However, about 87 percent of Pakistan's total manufacturing was consist on low-tech products and 60 percent of exports related to textile sector which constituted only about 3 percent of the total world's trade, he observed.
He urged the government for focusing on engineering goods industry which accounted for 50 percent of the total manufacturing and around $6 trillion of world exports.
ICCI head identified industrial machinery, high value-added chemicals, pharmaceutical, household appliances, computers, electronics, automobile, agro-food industry, mining and ship-building as key industries which needed priority attention and preferential incentives from the government to turn around the declining share of Pakistan in world trade.
The delegation stress the government for reprioritizing its economic development strategy and come up with a new vision to lure investment in high technology manufacturing in order to put the country on sustainable path of economic growth.
They urged the government for making significant hike in budgetary allocations for education, science and technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.
He asked for develop more technology parks, establish venture capital funds and provide better incentives to private sector for research and development.
These measures would lay a strong foundation for manufacturing of high tech products that would take Pakistan to higher levels of economic development, they added.
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