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Is Pakistan Better Off Industrially (and More Diverse in Industrial Production) Compared to Bangladesh?

You mention good points but mass production and cottage production are two different items and cater to different markets. former for export products and latter for local consumption. Apples and oranges.

I don't think you can compare the two because they have two very different pre-requisites and circumstances as well.

Former (mass production) has efficiency and economies of scale advantages (resulting in low cost products as you mention) but requires massive automation and of course, requisite investments, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, sometimes magnitudes more. Which means loans and bank financing which is hard to obtain in some situations.

The latter (cottage production) is not all that efficient however you start with minimal non-automated equipment. Sometimes just a pair of tin-snips and a hammer. Investments needed are minimal and you add equipment as you slowly make profit, re-investing into the business over years. I don't agree that their products is any more expensive, though lower quality it might be. in fact in taka terms, the price may be even lower than mass production items.

The neat thing is - one does not need formal training operating machinery for cottage production (CNC training etc.) which is hard to come by (especially in a country like ours, or Pakistan). One can apprentice into it, starting in the teen years. "Kaj shekha" is the main goal.

Most of the informal machine shop outfits in Dholaikhal and Jinjira in Dhaka were formed this way and if you replicate them all over Bangladesh, they will themselves form the "centers of excellence" as needed. The apparel industry certainly has.

If you have ten thousand machine shops making motorcycle parts, one thousand will be capable of producing superb above average parts, one hundred will be able to pass ISO 9001 QC maintenance standards, and will be candidates for getting investments from angel investors locally.

The point is - that while these Dholaikhal and Jinjira people need QC training from the govt. that is no longer a need in most of Pakistan. Their better shops do produce better quality products, but they did not get there in one day. It took decades upon decades of building up a skills repository, none of which we have - especially in parts making.

Pakistani shops in the Sialkot to Lahore corridor can produce locally used items profitably enough. Their quality, while sometimes less than world class is good enough to sell locally at an acceptable price. Not everything needs to be exported. Substituting imports is often good enough.

They don't need "Elahi Karbar" investments from Honda and Kawasaki because they can sell what they make locally at low rates of production, and they don't need to make huge profits because their overhead is insanely low. In fact their industry in that tools and parts sector is so thriving that the backward linkage (lathe machines. drills, grinders, shapers and all types of machine tools of many types) are all made locally. And are above average quality as well.

Their country is not beholden to price gouging by Indian Banyas.

Lest you think cottage industry did not belong to industrialized countries, I can say that of all the now industrialized countries I have visited (especially in Asia) such as Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, all had (and even now have) cottage industries.

I have been to these countries and visited their cottage industries in a bid to learn more. Their circumstances (except Japan which had apparel and shoe industries in 1899 timeframe) was no better than ours thirty years or so ago.

All Asian tiger economies started from labor-intensive industries making apparel, toys, shoes and useless knickknacks for export just like us in Bangladesh. Capital-intensive industries came much, much later.

It is possible to industrialize Bangladesh (and easier to do so) by providing easy loans to small shop owners.

A thousand motorcycle parts makers working from small resilient shops can be the basis of a local motorcycle industry. That is how Japan developed in the turn of the last century. In fact their start was even more humble. Their workshops were their homes. They used these urban workshops to produce even guns, bullets and parts for every weapon imaginable. Starting circa 1920's-30's.


I agree with what you said but what I wanted to say was that we should talk about issues like

#Infrastructures
#Production lead time
#Pipeline of skilled workers with technical education
#Ease of geting finance
#ease of doing business
#mass production experience
#skills on operational efficiency
#energy Security

Discussing these points would be more fruitful as both pak and bd has a lot to improve on and these are the things would determine the future success.

If we can compare issues like these, I myself believe we can learn a lot about the problems and the solutions that these respective countries are implementing or should work on.
 
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These guys do an especially nice job. The motors and housings are very, very well made and IMHO will last for a long time, if not forever. Pakistani fans are known to be heavy duty and long-lasting in Bangladesh, both ceiling and pedestal varieties.
The fans in my home are older than me and I am 30+. They just need a 50 Rs capacitor change every 2-3 years
 
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The fans in my home are older than me and I am 30+. They just need a 50 Rs capacitor change every 2-3 years

Yes correct. If they are the oil-filled can capacitors, they dry out in that time period and need changing. You can use solid monolithic tantalum capacitors but they are quite expensive. 50 Rs. is cheap. :-)

I agree with what you said but what I wanted to say was that we should talk about issues like

#Infrastructures
#Production lead time
#Pipeline of skilled workers with technical education
#Ease of geting finance
#ease of doing business
#mass production experience
#skills on operational efficiency
#energy Security

Discussing these points would be more fruitful as both pak and bd has a lot to improve on and these are the things would determine the future success.

If we can compare issues like these, I myself believe we can learn a lot about the problems and the solutions that these respective countries are implementing or should work on.

Good point - we can have comparative discussions....for future planning.
 
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Bangladesh has greater manufacturing output than Pakistan (2018 data)

View attachment 785452


And yes @Bilal9 your estimation is right, Pakistan has better complexity than Bangladesh in their manufacturing, but this based on export only


Country & Product Complexity Rankings
Economic development requires the accumulation of productive knowledge and its use in both more and more complex industries. Harvard Growth Lab’s Country Rankings assess the current state of a country’s productive knowledge, through the Economic Complexity Index (ECI). Countries improve their ECI by increasing the number and complexity of the products they successfully export. Use the visualizations below to (1) determine a country’s ECI ranking, (2) assess a country’s change in ECI since 1995 and (3) compare a country’s ranking vis-a-vis other countries. Learn more here.


https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/rankings
Very informative

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The least said about 'porshi desher maal' the better. I can guarantee you that there is no proper qc protocol & safety of the finished product fall under a huge question mark.

Haha, cope. Indian compressor manufacturers like Elgi export to markets such as the US.

While you lot obsess over compressed air tanks made of ship scrap.
 
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Here is an interesting video making otoscopes (ear inspection scopes) in Pakistan. Made from a very basic component level and with lots of manual work and value addition using basic lathes and machining, these types of items are ideal for countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to add to their diversified export portfolio. While Pakistan has these processes matured, that is yet to be the case in Bangladesh. The margin in developed markets is quite high, some are priced upwards of $90 per set.


 
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Bilal bhi, I will not buy a Compressor made by some local workshop. Quality & safety is a huge factor.

The least said about 'porshi desher maal' the better. I can guarantee you that there is no proper qc protocol & safety of the finished product fall under a huge question mark.

I know this is late answering you (in fact two months late) but Bhakts jumping up and down comparing themselves to us is pointless.

These idiots don't realize that the Chinese compressors market is worth $12 Billion plus and India's market is only $2 Billion. Pathetic.

Therefore gangus are left with sole option of comparing themselves to us to feel big - on everything.

Bunch of gadhas....
 
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for example water pimps and motors made in pakistan need two people to carry . whily italy and china made a 15yo kid can carry .
A machine usually weighs more if it’s capacity is higher. So, no generalization can be made based on weights only.
 
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Here is an interesting video making otoscopes (ear inspection scopes) in Pakistan. Made from a very basic component level and with lots of manual work and value addition using basic lathes and machining, these types of items are ideal for countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to add to their diversified export portfolio. While Pakistan has these processes matured, that is yet to be the case in Bangladesh. The margin in developed markets is quite high, some are priced upwards of $90 per set.


You have already sent quite a number of videos on Pakistani technical capabilities.

Ask that @UKBengali to forget GDP, I can say Pakistan is now what Japan was in the 1930s. Actually, Japan started all these small SME things after the 1868 Meiji Restoration. But, many SME technologies became matured when in the 1930s.

However, note that Japan built its own warships with engines produced by themselves. On the other hand, Pakistan is producing highly sophisticated weapons, planes, and tanks. But, it is not yet able to produce engines by itself.

Once Pakistan is able to build its own engines, motors, and similar other mechanical/ electrical goods. no one can stop it from getting developed.

I think the present economic peril is temporary and the reason is to borrow cheap money without doing its own homework.
 
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@bluesky

I think the present economic peril is temporary and the reason is to borrow cheap money without doing its own homework.

I agree with your assessment of Pak. What Pak has is not an economic problem but a public finance problem. Its economy is doing fine and in all likelihood its average citizen has a better standard of living than the average BD or Indian.

Regards
 
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Guys I view industrial small scale production all the time on different video platforms in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and IMHO I'd say Pakistan has a far superior industrial basis than Bangladesh on small scale Industrial sector (although a bit backdated in technology but very self-sustaining nonetheless).

The basis of economical production In small scale sector are all local raw materials, sometimes recycled. I will highlight some videos here for you all to see,

It is my belief that you will realize how active/productive Pakistani small-scale Industrial sector is and how we in Bangladesh can collaborate with that sector in Pakistan to improve ours - maybe using JV's and/or employing Pakistani machinery and experts who are in a unique position to help us.

The tech used is what is termed 'appropriate technology' whose main advantage is extreme low overhead and economical methods to make products of "high enough" and "acceptable" quality in remote areas, where low investment and backdated technology are advantages, not barriers to production.

Making products using automation and in super clean conditions like Walton often entail high cost. I have immense respect for these hard-working Mehnati folks in Pakistan who work in demanding conditions to earn a living. I guess some introduction to safety regimes (like covers for rollers and gears and shoes for workers who handle molten metal) would not hurt in some cases.






bro. thank you for detailing these household industry. most of these jobs I have never seen, I can only respect them.

I am very interested in DIY. I also bought many small tools and try to make something. but I admit I really don't have this talent... lol.

China has many rural inventors (we call them "junk inventors" or "torture device inventors"). they have a huge fan base (even many foreign fans).

This might be off topic. But it will bring us a lot of fun.

Homemade Security Patrol Mech ~ from 手工耿


A Multifunctional Hair Styling Mechanical Arm ~ from 手工耿


Keyboard AK-47 ~ from 手工耿


Forehead Flick weapon(Fans call it a "friend death machine")~ from 手工耿

 
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bro. thank you for detailing these household industry. most of these jobs I have never seen, I can only respect them.

I am very interested in DIY. I also bought many small tools and try to make something. but I admit I really don't have this talent... lol.

China has many rural inventors (we call them "junk inventors" or "torture device inventors"). they have a huge fan base (even many foreign fans).

This might be off topic. But it will bring us a lot of fun.

Homemade Security Patrol Mech ~ from 手工耿


A Multifunctional Hair Styling Mechanical Arm ~ from 手工耿


Keyboard AK-47 ~ from 手工耿


Forehead Flick weapon(Fans call it a "friend death machine")~ from 手工耿


Wow! Brother this is very informative. Thanks !!
 
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Here is a small shop in Pakistan making cost-effective motorcycle hubs using the minimum of tooling from scratch. Bangladesh has no such industry. Local motorcycle makers are hoping these suppliers will develop when total two wheeler population approaches a million (current figure is around 750,000).

 
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Here is a small shop in Pakistan making cost-effective motorcycle hubs using the minimum of tooling from scratch. Bangladesh has no such industry. Local motorcycle makers are hoping these suppliers will develop when total two wheeler population approaches a million (current figure is around 750,000).

Dang!!! I've never seen anything like this, are these parts durable and last?
 
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Dang!!! I've never seen anything like this, are these parts durable and last?
If it is the question of quality, certain bureaucrats of the Ministry of Industries should come down from their offices in Paradise and control the quality by giving the makers proper guidance.

This is how a manufacturer starts producing quality goods.
 
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