Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar Friday said the government is launching National Industrial Policy soon which would focus on enhancing the local production of goods as well as value addition in the export-oriented sectors.
He made these remarks while chairing a preliminary meeting to see the prospects and preparedness of the National Industrial Policy.
The minister said the government is eyeing to improve Pakistan’s exports through technology improvement, an increase in value-added exports and import substitution to ease the chronic problem of trade deficit and spur industrialization to promote jobs in the country.
The consultants of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (UK-FCDO) for industrial policy formulation were also present at the meeting. The consultants briefed the participants of the meeting on key thematic areas and fundamental metrics of the upcoming industrial policy.
The minister stressed the need to improve the manufacturing base of defining industrial sectors including textile, steel, light-engineering, pharmaceuticals, food processing, petrochemicals, fertilizers, pink/rock salt and cement at the level of global competitiveness and productive diversity to harness the global export market.
The minister said that the government launched a holistic National Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Policy which would be beneficial for the growth of small businesses and industrial units while creating massive employment opportunities. He added that we need to chalk out the framework to connect the competitiveness of SMEs to Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) in upcoming industrial policy.
The minister directed the senior officials of the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoI&P) to initiate a consultation with stakeholders for an inclusive industrial policy.
