Finalisation of strategic economic engagement with KSA: Ministries face SIFC’s over 4 dozen questions
ISLAMABAD: The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has sought answers to over four dozen questions from different ministries ahead of the investment body’s move to finalize strategic economic engagement with Saudi Arabia, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
In this regard, a meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office, and a questionnaire was presented to the participants for comprehensive internal and external diagnostics in coordination with all stakeholders and preparation of a detailed presentation.
The objective of this exercise is to conduct a comprehensive diagnostic of target sectors and formulate a granular, timed, and funded roadmap of policy interventions, incentives, and investments.
Pakistan sends team to KSA: Economic roadmap to be sealed in 2 months
Sector Overview & Production Landscape ;(i) What is the current size and structure of the sector (output, value added, employment, geographic distribution)? (ii) What are the installed production capacities, actual utilization, and idle capacities? Break this down by sub-sector and firm size (Large, SME), detailing the primary reasons for idleness; (iii) how is production divided between domestic consumption and exports? (iv) What is the technology maturity and index (eg, average age of machinery, level of automation, adoption of Industry 4.0, R&D expenditure as % of revenue)?; (v) Capital Machinery Analysis: What is the ratio of capital investment in machinery to export value? How does this productivity metric compare with international benchmarks? (vi) What is the scale and quality of production relative to international benchmarks? (vii) What incentives currently exist (tax breaks, rebates, subsidies, preferential access, special regimes)? (viii) What is the raw material base, domestic availability vs. import dependency, reliability of supply chains, and cost competitiveness? and (ix) What are the sector’s cost structures (energy, logistics, financing, labour, regulatory compliance)?
Export Profile &Dynamics: (i) What are the historical export trends (volume, value, growth rate, volatility) over the last 10 years? (ii) What is the current export value and share in Pakistan’s total exports?; (iii) what is the imports-to-exports ratio (including re-export potential)?; (iv) what are the key export destinations and destination-wise export values? (v) What are the top export commodities or product segments, with their respective shares? (vi) What is the destination-commodity mapping (matrix of where each major export goes)? (vii) What is the degree of value addition, and where does Pakistan sit on the value chain (raw, intermediate, final goods)? (viii) What is the extent of vertical integration (upstream and downstream)? (ix) What is the global market size and Pakistan’s current market share and ranking? And (x) Is the export basket diversifying or consolidating in terms of both products and destinations?
Competitiveness & Comparative Benchmarking; (i) How does Pakistan’s export performance compare with peer and competitor countries (eg, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Turkey, Indonesia)? (ii) What policies, incentives, or institutional mechanisms have enabled their success (eg, specific SEZ models, R&D grants, trade agreements)? (iii) What are Pakistan’s competitiveness gaps in terms of Cost of Doing Business (CoDB) and Ease of Doing Business (EODB)-including logistics, infrastructure, productivity, and trade facilitation? (iv) What is the unit cost competitiveness (eg, cost per unit of output) vs. regional and global peers? And (v) What are the sector’s non-tariff barriers in target markets (eg, standards, certifications, SPS measures)?
Policy, Regulatory & Institutional Landscape: (i) What are the key GoP policies, regulations, and administrative processes impacting export performance? (ii) What are the policy distortions or regulatory bottlenecks (federal and provincial) limiting competitiveness and investment? (iii) Which input costs (energy, financing, logistics, compliance) are most constraining, and how do they compare internationally? (iv) What are the relevant federal and provincial jurisdictions, and how well do they coordinate? (v) Are there any sector-specific export promotion agencies, trade bodies, or R&D institutions? How effective are they?
Growth Potential & Targets: (i) What is the sectoral “North Star” vision for 2039 - eg, global ranking, export value, share of total exports? (ii) What are the quantified targets for each 3-year module and annually? Specify targets for: (a) total export value; (b) value-added exports as a % of total; (c) number of new export destinations; (d) new export commodities introduced; (e) FDI attracted: (iii) What is the addressable export market opportunity (current and projected global demand)? And (iv) what are the core constraints to scaling production and exports to achieve these targets?
Interventions & Incentive Design: (i) what policy, fiscal, and non-fiscal interventions are required to achieve export targets (short-, medium-, and long-term)? (ii) What EoDB and CoDB reforms are needed to unlock competitiveness (eg, single-window clearance, predictable energy pricing)? (iii) How can innovation, R&D, and technology transfer be accelerated?; (iv) Financial Ecosystem Deep Dive: Conduct a stock-take of existing financing mechanisms for exporters (eg, State Bank refinancing schemes, Export Finance Scheme, Long-Term Financing Facility, VC/PE presence). How can these be enhanced, scaled, and integrated with potential KSA capital? (v) How can human capital and skill development be aligned with sector needs? and (vi) what trade facilitation, certification, and quality infrastructure gaps exist?
Cross-Sectoral Linkages: (i) What are the key inter-sectoral dependencies (eg, cotton for textiles, minerals for metals, logistics for agriculture exports)? And (ii) What horizontal interventions (infrastructure, logistics, skills, energy, digitalization) are prerequisites to export growth?
Investment & Facilitation Framework; (i) What facilities and incentives should Pakistan offer to investors, particularly Saudi investors (land in SEZs, tax breaks, repatriation guarantees, etc.)? (ii) What private sector participation models (PPP, JVs, equity partnerships) are most viable? And (iii) identify and prioritize a long list of Brownfield and Greenfield investment opportunities, including size, scope, and project-readiness status.
Risk Management & Safeguards; (i) How can interventions avoid fuelling consumption-driven growth at the expense of export orientation? Specify design mechanisms (eg, proof-of-export requirements for incentives, claw-back clauses); (ii) how can import substitution policies be designed to encourage competitiveness rather than protectionism (eg, phased production-linked incentives)? (iii) What are the key sectoral risks (market, financial, policy, climate, geopolitical) and mitigation strategies? (iv) What KPIs and monitoring frameworks should be used to measure progress toward export targets?
Additional Analytical Dimensions; (i) trade logistics and connectivity: - efficiency of ports, warehousing, customs processes, and regional trade corridors (eg, via Afghanistan to Central Asia); (ii) Global demand mapping: -projected growth in demand for key export products across GCC,EU, US, and ASEAN markets; and (iii) institutional governance: - mapping of stakeholders, accountability, and inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms for effective roadmap implementation.
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