KARACHI: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that the responsibility for Karachi’s development lies with the Sindh government, not with the federal government.
Speaking at the Federation House, Karachi, Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the “Uraan Pakistan” programme had five major initiatives including exports enhancement, E-Pakistan digital transformation, equality and social development, environmental protection, food and water security, and energy and infrastructure development.
Under “Uraan Pakistan” programme, the government has set an ambitious export target of US$100 billion in the next 7-8 years, which the Minister believed would be achievable.
Minister slams Centre for ‘ignoring’ development of Karachi
While identifying eight exports potential sectors including agri, manufacturing, IT, services, mining, HR exports, creative industry and blue economy to achieve US$100 billion target, he announced to constitute eight working groups in collaboration with FPCCI members for the purpose.
He said that federal government has decided to allocate Rs150 billion for K-IV project and construction work of Hyderabad- Sukkur motorway would be commenced in ongoing year.
Minister Ahsan Iqbal provided a detailed account of Pakistan’s recent economic journey, revealing that in April 2022, the Ministry of Finance had refused to pay quarterly external debt obligations, indicating Pakistan was internally defaulted.
However, the country has achieved remarkable economic recovery with inflation dropping from 38 percent to 3 percent and interest rates falling from 22 percent to 11 percent in just two years. International credit rating agencies Moody’s, S&P Global, and Fitch have upgraded Pakistan’s credit rating, with international institutions calling Pakistan’s economic recovery a “miracle”.
The federal minister emphasised Pakistan’s untapped potential across various sectors, saying that despite being the world’s 5th largest in dairy production, Pakistan lacks value addition and imports processed dairy products from Norway, Sweden, and Australia.
He pointed out abundant granite resources in Chitral that remain unexploited and highlighted those coastal areas, particularly Gwadar, need seafood processing plants. The creative industry, worth over $2 trillion globally, presents significant opportunities for Pakistan, he added. Minister Ahsan Iqbal stressed that Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio of merely 10.5 percent is among the world’s lowest, emphasizing the need for improvement to 15.5 percent to achieve sustainable development.
Comparing Pakistan’s stagnant export growth to regional competitors, he said that while Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam have achieved hundreds of billions in exports from similar starting points in the 1960s, Pakistan remains at just $32 billion. President Atif Ikram Sheikh highlighted that Pakistan’s credit rating has been upgraded by international agencies, noting that the government has set an export target of $60 billion by 2028 along with a sustainable GDP growth target of 6 percent by the same year.
He said the government’s annual private investment plan of $10 billion and pledged the business community’s support in achieving the export target while calling for reduced interest rates and electricity prices to boost exports.
Senior Vice President FPCCI Saqib Fayyaz Magoon highlighted the need to break free from IMF constraints to implement beneficial policies, revise trade agreements with China and African markets, establish free trade agreements for economic growth, and create export councils at the government level.
State Minister for Religious and Minority Affairs Khalil Das Kohistani said that Pakistan’s transformation from being on the brink of default in 2022 to now being on the path of progress.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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