Begging bowl, incompetent government, or incompetent judiciary... or there can be a million reasons (justifiable ones as well) to be a pessimist or cautious here.. but the need of the hour is to develop and advance textile, petrochemical, and pharma sectors. Our future lies is with the textile, IT and service industries.
The petrochemical/chemical, textile and pharma sectors, are the least risky sectors and will cause little to no burden on the government. No need for government payment guarantees or a chance of financial hit to the government in the future. If established, the price of the final product or the finished material in which the production will be used will decrease leading to better competition internationally. e.g.
1- For investment in petrochemical and cotton/yarn/made made or non cotton fibers, we consume a lot of raw materials in various industries hence less risky
2- Horizontal and vertical integration is the need of the hour for all three sectors.
3- In the case of pharma, we don't manufacture most if not all of the APIs, all are imported. Similarly, there is not even a single FDA-approved plant in Pakistan. Even Bangladesh has 3. Some of the chemicals are also used in the pharma sector as well.
4- Packing, pesticides, leather, furniture, footwear industries all use by-products of chemicals and some cotton/yarn/nylon industries.
So I will not indulge in a political debate. Being a Pakistani, a patriot, and a well-wisher I wish, hope and most of all pray that direct Chinese investment, or collaboration or whatever mode of investment we get... these three sectors affect us positively in lots and lots of ways. Engro Corporation, Ghani group, and Ittihad chemicals have invested a bit in these sectors which is but minuscule to what is required and consumed. I just hope we get some investment in these sectors.
