Iqbal proposes export window

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has stressed that in order to make Uraan Pakistan programme successful, heads of all commercial banks should immediately establish a special export development window.

Speaking at a meeting with CEOs and presidents of banks held at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday, the planning minister proposed that if banks could earn profit by lending to the government, they could explore other avenues as well.

He highlighted the potential of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), which could generate exports worth $40-60 billion within five years. He also called for introducing a laptop leasing scheme for students similar to auto leasing.

He said, "Pakistan will become 100 years old after 22 years. The world is changing; we will prove to be a good case of rapid development, after being associated with Uraan Pakistan."

However, he cited the lack of quality human resources as one of the major impediments and asked the State Bank and other banks to launch scholarship schemes for manpower.

The minister emphasised that export of skilled labour could enhance remittances while goods and services exports should surge from $30 billion to $100 billion. "Our exports must align with gross domestic product (GDP) growth, supported by trade surpluses and financing."

Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that Pakistan had mineral reserves worth trillions of rupees, but "we have failed to take advantage of them". To capitalise on the opportunity, work is underway to formulate a policy for the blue economy and mining.

He underscored the critical need for enhancing the agricultural output to boost exports, adding "we have to bring green revolution, which will enable sustainable agricultural production."

Later, talking to media, the federal minister for planning said that a political party was carrying out anti-state activities from abroad, due to which Pakistan was facing economic problems and expatriate Pakistanis were also encountering difficulties.

He mentioned that the reason for problems in the country was the absence of harmony between the three pillars of the state.

He was of the view that the success of the five-year Uraan Pakistan programme would be possible with the support of commercial banks, which assured the government of their full cooperation.