Race to dominate the field of technology.

One way Pakistan could begin to ease the enormous burden of external debt it currently carries is to use public policy to develop an export-oriented industry. It has largely failed in this area, relying mostly on textile exports. Here it has run into serious competition from the countries that were able to develop the garment industry producing for exports. Bangladesh is a prime example of a state that has a vibrant garment industry although it does not grow cotton or produce yarn and cloth that goes into the production of garments for exports. Now that Pakistan has missed that particular bus, it could turn its attention on developing one resource that is seen by most in Pakistan as a burden rather than an asset. The reference here is to the country's very young population, one of the youngest in the world. The share of the youth in the country's population is rapidly declining. This will affect China's progress in the field of technology. The same is happening in the United States but the Americans have an open immigration policy and encourage the arrival of well-trained young people to their country.

The government, joining hands with the private sector, should invest in developing institutions that would provide quality education and training to the youth. Thus educated and trained, the youth could develop the sector of information technology which produces services in great demand around the world. China has been a major supplier of these services but here the country is running into some serious constraints. The United States has decided to adopt a series of measures aimed at hurting the computer chip-making industry in China. The American measures have come on top of a serious demographic change in China that has resulted in significantly reducing the rate of population growth. The Chinese population is rapidly aging.

There is a three-way race on developing new technologies. These depend on the quality of the computer chips that are used for such mundane tasks as operating a toaster to advanced endeavours like launching and watching satellites that go round the Earth and perform a variety of functions including providing guidance to car drivers looking for their destinations. The competition is among the United States, China and Taiwan. For half a century designers of computer chips in the United States shrank electronic components to pack more power into tiny silicon pieces. Then about a decade ago, scientists decided it would be...