Overview
- Business leaders at an LCCI seminar in early July urged simultaneous export growth and import substitution to reduce the country’s trade deficit and strengthen the economy.
- Speakers noted remittances have passed $40 billion but argued that long-term stability requires materially higher export earnings rather than reliance on remittance inflows.
- The textile sector, which supplies about 60 percent of Pakistan’s exports, was singled out for urgent product innovation, design upgrades and stronger supply chains to meet global market standards.
- P@SHA’s vice chairman said IT exports are roughly $3.8 billion today, have grown at about 20 percent annually, and could reach $10–$15 billion in five to ten years if policy support, productivity gains and public-private coordination continue.
- LCCI said it will press policymakers for continued support and market access measures, noting that deeper trade agreements and sustained reforms could directly raise factory orders, jobs and foreign earnings for exporters.