Macroeconomic stability and free market reforms make a quantum leap in Pakistan’s industrialization a real possibility.

Determined that Pakistan’s industries will not be left out of the country’s progress, President Musharraf’s administration is implementing a number of measures aimed at increasing Pakistan’s international competitiveness and maximizing job creation. A national company for industrial park development and management has been set up and a technology upgrading and skills development company has been formed in order to support budding industries. The President states: “The government is endeavoring to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% by 2010 and to 30% by 2015. In the manufacturing sector, we have a liberal investment policy that permits foreign investors to hold 100% of the equity in industrial projects without the permission of the government. Additionally, the small- and medium-sized enterprises sector has huge potential for growth, both for the local market and for export.”

Jahangir Khan Tareen Minister of Industry, Production and Special Initiatives

The man in charge of bringing about this transformation in Pakistan’s industry is Minister of Industry, Production and Special Initiatives Jahangir Khan Tareen. Drawing from his vast previous experience in rural empowerment projects, Mr. Tareen has developed a strategy to jumpstart the country’s industrial sector and contribute to the growth of the nation’s small- and medium-sized enterprises. Promoting the expansion of a public-private partnership formula, in which state companies are headed by private sector personnel, Mr. Tareen is working to create a chain of industrial parks throughout the country to expand the nation’s value-added industries. He adds, “If our strategy is correctly implemented, the benefits of industrialization and economic growth will spread across all sectors of the economy.” Mr. Tareen says that Pakistan is ripe for these types of initiatives due to the macroeconomic stability and free market reforms that have been achieved under the present administration. “We are now in a position to talk about a quantum leap in Pakistan’s industrialization. We really are at a turning point due to the opportunity that President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have created,” he comments.