Get serious about exports and remittances.

COVID-19-triggered economic problems are so widespread that all nations, regardless of their economic status, are unsure of what is in store for them in the immediate and distant future.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Pakistan, its external sector had started recovering primarily on the back of borrowing rather than on dependable growth in nondebt-creating foreign exchange inflows.

Now as global demand for merchandise and labour exports is dwindling, opportunities are narrowing. If exports are not diversified and custom-made for the buyers and if new export destinations are not explored, export earnings are bound to remain stagnant or decline.

Similarly, if our exportable workforce remains the same in quality and variety and if more host countries are not found for them and the existing ones exploited with economic diplomacy, remittances, too, may soon plunge. We also need to make economic gains a key consideration for dealing with geopolitical issues for penetrating deeper and wider into merchandise and labour export markets if not in the midst of a global recession then right after the start of an inevitable recovery. That is a must.

Roughly two-thirds of our merchandise export earnings come from only 10 countries, including the United States and China. These top two world economies have reported 6.8 per cent and 4.8pc annual declines in their GDPs in the first quarter of 2020.

The numbers for the second quarter could be more depressing. Declining demand and the resultant fall or stagnation in economic growth of other eight countries are also written on the wall. Such is the economic situation of our export destinations. One can imagine how it will impact our exports.

Clearly, we need to do some homework and come up immediately with realistic projections as to where we can increase goods` exports in the second-tier export markets and how wecan develop the third-tier markets that remain ignored.

We also need to focus on branding and producing more of what specific buyers -countries or multinational companies actually need. Given the fact that the 2020-21 budget leaves no fiscal room for the least useful incentive packages, any financial requirement for boosting exports can be metwith greater involvement of leading and efficient export houses. The Pakistan Business Council, which is already working hard on developing and promoting Pakistani brands, could lend a helping hand. Perhaps the time has come to hold the Ministry of Commerce and...

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