Unique advantages of Pakistan

Pakistan can become a “billion dollar exports per day” nation; but such revolutionary concepts can only become reality with revolutionary thoughts and real time actions. 

Pakistan has a unique position: already gifted with a special land, rich in resources, from record breaking mountain peaks to seashores, nurtured with a bright youthful nation, vibrant culture buzzes with small and large enterprises. Pakistan is a strategic geographic location under the spotlight for its successes with China and CPEC and in an envious position for its hidden competitive advantages. Pakistan is finally under an amazing political leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, and his PTI Party who are working on a new vision for Pakistan that supports an open and friendlier trading global dialogue. These are the facts.

Pakistan is Watched: However, the world is harshly critical because it already have 200 plus other nations in its pocket to judge and compare. Other nations have difficulties too. This adverse global opinion directly impacts foreign investments and export opportunities. Pakistan does have serious economic issues, on exportability and grassroots corporate performance, all due to critical lack of global age skills from factory floors to Corporate Boardrooms and Public Sector echelons, the parochial business mindedness and antiquated bureaucracies are real strangulations.

Winning Cricket World Cup: Example; winning Cricket World Cup is always about the players, the teams and their skills to win; as no amount of money and no promotion can buy such victory, it’s all about the craft, craftsmen and craftsmanship. For Pakistan to blame rest of the world while ignoring lifelong learning and global-age skills is totally wrong.  Self-discovery, self-optimization and national mobilization of entrepreneurialism are the pillars where the real victory is hidden.

Pakistan’s Branding: Pakistan is the 6th largest population nation but 66th on the list of global exports. This fact on low performance in global exports proves why outside of a few small ethnic brands, Pakistan has no single global name identity on the world’s trading stage. In textiles alone, during last decade, Pakistan could have developed One Hundred specialty-textile-brands each with USD one billion dollar export potential. Today the absence of high-caliber skills across the nation to invent, design and create world-class, branded, premium priced, goods and services, capable for global exportability, simply prolongs the agony.

Pakistan’s Skills Gaps: Pakistan is also listed at 147^th on the Human Development Index. This fact basically disqualifies Pakistan as a serious exporter and almost declares a skills-less-nation on global stage; a decade ago this was a wake-up call today a zombie-walk. There is no excuse. Take the bull by the horn or get ready to be kicked in from behind. Declare national emergency and mobilize corrective measures, as this is what armies do. Most such issues are not funding but rather global age skills and execution dependent in the first place. Other nations have done this in daylight.

Pakistan’s Transformation: Pakistan can also change overnight but most wrongly believe that it’s impossible. This is how. Businesses owners of big and small enterprises must be retrained on that their continuous and unlimited wealth may not continue for next generation. The next generation may not survive operationally, unless they are deeply re-trained and armed with special skills for very different open global markets. The business community should no longer be content with low level production promoted by low level marketing strategies creating local real-estate-rupee-rich-billionaire-kings. Such kings are almost invisible on any throne on the world stage. The new NextGen players of Family Businesses must takeover with powerful global age skills and armed with new transformation to quadruple economy. Furthermore, all the national trade associations and chamber of commerce’s must be streamlined so they become global age interactive to become global platform-friendly for global-exportability-options. Currently these advanced topics are extremely foreign to their leadership. Although keeping fears and trepidations aside, easily adaptable and all within reach of national mobilization programs can bring significant change across the nation within first year.

Billion Dollars Exports per Day: Pakistan can become a USD billion dollar exports per day nation; but such revolutionary concepts can only become reality with revolutionary thoughts and real time actions.  Pakistan is a military nation and it is easy to mobilize the entire business population. Massive repeated global age strategies, formal tactical trainings and regimented drills and unlimited use of technology will make this uplift happen. Of course such notion can become long term goals but here are the key facts applicable today.

Fact: The world can easily absorb unlimited exportable ideas in unlimited vertical markets.
Fact: The well-designed innovative ideas are worthy of such quadrupled volumes.
Fact: The entrepreneurial and dormant talents of a nation are capable of such tasks.
Fact: The new global age skills, knowledge and execution are now the missing links

The Revolutionary Debates: Just silence is not good enough; now, only “revolutionary debates” on revolutionary thought leadership and methodologies will guarantee turnaround benefits. Firstly, the national leadership must get convinced that most of the above transformations are not “funding dependent” but rather “execution hungry” and secondly “National Mobilization of Entrepreneurialism” umbrella brings out the national hidden talent. Only Senior level discussions and cross examinations will fix the issues and not the feasibility studies.

Exportability Options: The advanced level global-age digitization is a MUST for bodies like major Chambers of Commerce across the nation and top trading associations like PAMA, PPMA, PAAPAM, PRGMEA, SIMAP, REAP, PSGMEA, APTMA, APBUMA, PLGMEA . Not to be confused with disconnected website, there are flying carpets for global trading. The FPPCI formats were good decades ago; today it’s all about becoming a shiny magnet for global exports and investments or remain as a dull rusty metal. Simple

The IMF Alliance: American help and the IMF alliances will help, and while some of these topics have been discussed casually all across the nation but now is the time for national leadership to engage with new blueprints and national mobilization of entrepreneurialism protocols. Pakistan is in a unique position, once again and remains for sure. Armed with skills let the regiments marches for national prosperity start.

FACT: The time to change has already passed, and the time to mobilize and revolutionize has started.

(Naseem Javed is a corporate philosopher, Chairman of Expothon Worldwide; a Think tank on Image Supremacy of Innovative Excellence & Entrepreneurial Leadership. He is leading charge on entrepreneurial leadership transformation and a recognized authority on global digital trends, image complexities how they impact business performances and create global age skill shifts. His recent work on Expothon Strategy is getting global attention. His latest new book; Alpha Dreamers; the five billions connected who will change the world. www.expothon.com  He can be connected via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naseemjaved.)