How to make Pakistan self-reliant

Pakistan is an underdeveloped country, right now going through certain stages of political imbalances that have led it to a very slow increase in economic growth. A country only in that case achieves its ideals of self-reliance, when its economy is strong enough to meet the requirements of the common citizens.  Pakistan is in the 20th position among the countries having the best economy. The current GDP of the country is 347.7 billion dollars.

With the exports of textile products, sports goods, and other local products, Pakistan is on its way to achieving good economical strengths that would ultimately help the country to maintain its government machineries effectively and meet the requirements of common citizens. Through the analysis and implementation of modern economical strategies, Pakistan can achieve self-reliance and can emerge as a mighty production power in the international markets.

A journey From Aid Dependence to Self-Reliance

The availability of Employment opportunities for citizens is the major factor that leads to self-reliance. One of the most effective techniques that can be applied in countries like Pakistan is to focus on the cottage and small-scale industries. These industries can be started at home and may prove the most beneficial for the state by creating employment opportunities on one hand, and on the other hand, having a great contribution to the GDP growth some popular self employments that are included in this sector are cobbler, craftsman, carpenter, etc.

In Pakistan, the cottage industries are able to provide employment opportunities to almost 80 % of citizens of the industrial labors.

In Pakistani societies, women’s are generally not encouraged to work outside from their homes. While on the other hand, our population consist of 51% of females and 49 % of males. It means, it won’t be better for countries like Pakistan to have the majority of its population not taking part in the economic growth of the country.

In such cases, being employed in the cottage industries can be a great thing for Pakistani women to support their families financially and contribute to the self-reliance goal of the country.

Role of the Private Sector

The government of Pakistan is right now lacking a number of vacancies that could absorb the thousands and hundreds of thousands of fresh graduates from the universities of the country. In such a situation, the private sector had played a great role in the provision of employment opportunities to the masses. And as mentioned earlier, employment opportunities creation is the first step to making a country grow faster and achieve actual success. According to an estimate, almost 60 % of our labor force is employed in the agriculture sector which can also be called the private sector. This has enabled the farmers to make crop production and use them for meeting their financial needs.

Pakistan is an agricultural country. This statement is the greatest claim of the Pakistani government, but if we analyze the case in real terms, we can get to the conclusion that even food items are imported from India and other countries. If we focus on the building of the agricultural sector of our country, our country will produce lots of opportunities for its citizens in this sector.

Similarly, there is a need for effective management to run the private sector effectively. Because the majority of the state revenue in Pakistan is based on the tax generated from private firms and organizations. Therefore, their growth and downfall can have a direct impact on the economic conditions of Pakistan and its self-reliance or aid dependency.

According to a recent survey, almost one-third of the population still lives on rupees 60 per day. That’s really difficult for those people to live and manage their home expenses in spite of the shortage of food items and other resources. Similarly, it has been founded that Pakistan’s half of population is illiterate. That means they cannot be absorbed by the government in its departments. In such cases, it seems crucial for the country to make development in the private sector by liquefying the policies for them so that it may provide employment opportunities to every citizen of the state.

Role of the engineering sector in self-reliance

The engineering sector of any country is considered to be the most important one due to having its greatest role in the production of goods and products. The engineering sector is directly linked with the creation of modern and advanced specifications and design that helps the factories and production firms generate the best quality products, effective enough to meet the needs of people in a modern and more convenient way.

Pakistan can achieve its state of self-reliance. If it focuses on the qualitative production of the products, that are able to provide the best benefits to the consumers. Only, in that case, Pakistan can multiply its exports exponentially and will be able to generate huge revenue from foreign exchange. And that is only possible. If the government focus on the development of the engineering sector, which is directly linked with the development of blueprints for the production firms and factories, to manufacture the best products.

The value chains of all the sub-branches of engineering are so diverse that the country can easily convert this industry into cash if the resources of this industry are utilized in the best and most effective way. There are lots of industrial improvements that can be brought in Pakistan, such as the use of traditional steel, aluminum can be replaced by modern alloys that are even cheaper, harder, and more durable than those other metals. All these discoveries and innovations can be made by enhancing the engineering sector of Pakistan and allowing it to make a contribution to the self-reliance of Pakistan.

Figure 1 global demand for Pakistan products

The strategy that can be used as one of the most effective strategies for success in the engineering sector is to make our products with such a best quality whose demands are higher in the international market. And pragmatically, that is only possible, if their designs or specifications are the top-notch.

Role of Establishment of import substitution industries

The process of making a country self-sufficient by helping the newly formed organization and making them strengthen their roots is called import substitution industrialization (ISI). The government of Pakistan can greatly develop its economy by focusing on the development and contribution of the newly formed companies so that they may get stronger and prosper in the wider perspective.

Self-reliance can only be achieved if the industries of a country are developed enough to generate good profits and thus create employment for the other citizens. Through the use of modern and effective strategies we can make Pakistan a self-reliant country. The import substitution can be used in Pakistan to protect the newly formed firms.

There are lots of techniques by means which the government can help the local companies to prosper and ultimately become a source of revenue for the state. The government should focus on decreasing the taxes on the local companies so that they are encouraged to take part in business activities. Similarly, there is a high need for encouraging international businesses to take part in investments in Pakistan. 

Key to self-sufficiency

Revenue generation is the key to self-sufficiency and successful economic growth of Pakistan. Our government should focus on the increase in GDP of our country so that we are not dependent on foreign currencies to maintain our state machineries.

When the GDP of a country is growing, that means that the country is making successful growth in the business sectors and jobs availability. GDP also measures, the value of products manufactured in a country for the purpose of exports. Revenue generation enables the government departments to run. The taxes obtained from the revenues of different businesses operating in the country are used to make the government machinery run effectively.

Those taxes are used by the government to provide loan facilities to the people. Similarly, they are used to pay salaries to the employees of government departments. Likewise, there is a lot of important revenue for a country to run its mechanism effectively. Higher taxes can be only collected from the businesses when those businesses are strong enough to pay those taxes without any harm to their survival in the market. In that case, we would see Pakistan growing faster and more successful in the economy. And that is the key strategy by means of which self-sufficiency can be achieved.

Conclusion

Achievement of self reliance is a life long struggle and requires a country to pass through lots of situations where the citizens have to undertake great responsibilities on their shoulders, with complete honesty and dedication. The promotion of fairness, in the courts and business operations can lead our country to bring stability in our societies. This will have a direct impact in the economic system of Pakistan and thus we would see Pakistan as one of the rising economic powers in the world.

In that way, the country can achieve self reliance and can manage all their affairs effectively by themselves, without falling prey to any external conspiracies.