ISLAMABAD
\nPresident Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Irfan Iqbal Sheikh on Friday said that without re-establishing trade ties with emerging global and regional markets, including Russia, Central Asian Region (CARs), Africa, Turkey, South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and improving regional trade integration, the country\u2019s economy would not improve.
\nTherefore, he urged that the national industrial sector has to be brought in line with the global competitive trading trends in order to increase production and exports. \u201cOur major export sector needs to increase production of commercial goods in line with global competitive markets, which is possible only through the latest technology, innovation and research and development, the FPCCI president said.
\nHe said that the acquisition of new potential markets for trade diversification, through modern tools, was essential to increase the country\u2019s exports. Irfan Iqbal said that by focusing sectors including textile value addition, export in Information Technology (IT), alternative energy, housing, Halal food market, tourism, agriculture, gems and Jewelry and research and development, country\u2019s exports can go beyond their potential.
\nHe said that Pakistan had a lot of potential in the field of Information Technology and in this sector, \u201cwe can increase our annual exports up to US$ 5 billion, while our current IT exports are hovering around US$2.5 billion.\u201d President FPCCI said that India was exporting up to $110 billion in the same sector and thus national exports should increase up to $ 25 billion. \u201cWe have to connect with Silicon Valley,\u201d he said.
\nHe said that the country\u2019s software houses would have to set up their liaison offices in California so that they could lobby for this and become part of the global trade in information technology and increase domestic exports.
\nIrfan Iqbal said that acquisition of new markets, geographical, regional and trade diversification was essential to take exports to the top. At present, 65 percent of Pakistan trade is with only 10 countries in which trade volume with regional and friendly countries was very nominal, he said.
\nHe said that at present the country needed to pay more attention to the agriculture sector, in which the use of modern technology and tools in the agricultural sector can increase the yield per acre.
\nAt present \u201cwe need to increase our yield per acre in all major crops including cotton, rice, wheat and maize\u201d he said. He said that at present, getting good seeds and setting up crop patterns in agriculture was a big challenge and Maize and sugarcane were now replacing cotton, which has affected the major cotton production.
\nHe said that without value addition in the agriculture sector and development of agro-industries, \u201cwe would not be able to develop our economy better.\u201d He said that the country\u2019s market potential in Gems and Jewelry has a potential of $30 billion but there were inadequate facilities due to which exports in this sector are low.
\nHe said that country\u2019s Northern Areas, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were rich in these precious stones, which are in need of modern machinery for valuation and the government should provide timely assistance in this regard. He said that at present \u201cwe need to work on alternative energy, which is providing better opportunities for energy production in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Irfan Iqbal Sheikh on Friday said that without re-establishing trade ties with emerging global and regional markets, including Russia, Central Asian Region (CARs), Africa, Turkey, South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and improving regional trade integration, the country\u2019s economy would not improve. Therefore, he urged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n