Lahore, September 18 (Online): 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.
He 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.
He was addressing the 4th Export Trophy arranged by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Senior Vice President Ali Hussam Asghar and Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmed also spoke on the occasion while Executive Committee Members, former office-bearers and businessmen were present on the occasion.
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He told the audience that until 2010, the world’s top 10 companies hailed from the oil sector but currently they had been replaced by the IT (information technology) firms, which manifested the huge scope of the sector.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.
As Pakistan aims to become a competitive economy in the region and recover from the adverse impact of COVID-19, it is imperative for us to enhance our export revenues to deal with serious economic challenges that are being faced by our nation.
He said in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, it was obvious that exports would be seriously hit but fortunately Pakistan managed to minimize the fall in exports earnings due to smart policy initiatives. In 2019-20 Pakistan’s exports stood at 21.39 billion dollars as compared to 22.96 billion dollars in 2018-19.
President LCCI said 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 etc. In this connection, we recommend the government to establish Export Processing Zones across the country on priority basis.
President LCCI highlighted the long standing issue of the lack of good infrastructure as far as Testing Laboratories and Standard Certification and said that the government should upgrade the existing testing laboratories to bring them at par with international standards for serving the export needs of our industries, adding that we also recommend that state-of-the-art testing laboratories should be established in all the Special Economic Zones.
While thanking H.E. Dr. Arif Alvi for gracing the ceremony, President LCCI also congratulated all the award winners and hope that 4th Edition of LCCI Export Trophy will open new avenues for the exporters in future.
President of Pakistan also gave appreciation awards to the LCCI former Presidents Iftikhar Ali Malik, Mian Anjum Nisar, LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Senior Vice President Ali Hussam Asghar and Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmed.
