The charter of economy.

The PM has once again called for a consensus on a 'Charter of Economy' to agree on a long-term plan to put the economy on track. Immediately, PDM also called to be made part of the 'Charter of Economy' consultations. They also want to be the stakeholders of the roadmap. Afterwards, PM also invited PTI to be part of hammering out a roadmap for salvaging the economy. It would be indeed good news for the people of Pakistan if political parties can agree on something relating to the welfare of the people of Pakistan.

To put the country's economy on track, in the short term, the incumbent PM has visited friendly Gulf countries to look for investments in the service industry such as tourism, hospitality, and in SOEs. The government will generate revenues from the sale of assets in the aforementioned areas. However, there are a few shortcomings in inviting FDI, especially in the service sector. This sector does not add to the economy per se. The best example is Sri Lanka whose tourist-based economy received a battering during the COVID-19 epidemic as all the revenues from tourism dried up. Similarly, Sri Lanka spent its loans on building grand infrastructures which did not generate revenues to support the economy but required government subsidies for their upkeep.

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Any robust economy is underpinned by manufacturing and innovation. Over the last few decades China, followed by India, has moved from a consumer economy to a manufacturing economy with China now making steady progress to move to an innovation economy. On the contrary, even after seventy-five years of existence, Pakistan is merely relying on traditional items such as textiles and few products from Sialkot, which are low-valued, and least technology-intensive items. Resultantly, the newcomers Bangladesh, and Thailand have overtaken Pakistan in these fields, and are generating revenues in billions far excess of Pakistan.

We still have to manufacture any product competitive at the international level. We...