T-3, the way forward

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Pakistan is one of the greatest and amazing countries with lot of resources. Till 80’s it was a progressing country its cities were on Top in the region. Karachi and Lahore were the best choice for Travelers. Unfortunately since last 4 decades Pakistan is struggling to bring its glory back.

Pakistan’s number one problem is that we are yet to decide what are our top most problems.  First we were focused on war against terrorism and now whole attention is towards anti-corruption.  With all efforts so far no change is visible in the life of a common man, in-fact it is getting more and more difficult.

Pakistan’s problem and opportunity both are same which Human Resource Development is.  We need to focus on Humans. Corruption erupts when incompetent persons occupy wrong positions. Similarly terrorism is a result of jobless and frustration among youth.  As Pakistan is successfully overcame the menace of terrorism and new government is passionate against terrorism this is the high time to focus on Human Development.

Pakistan is among few countries where Youth is more than 60% of its total population. This is a blessing and great opportunity for the future of Pakistan but if not tapped timely and in right direction this will become the devastating. Government in particular must address Human development in general and youth development in particular as its first and most important priority. Energy, time and money should be spent first for persons below age of 30. This should include education, health, jobs, training etc.

Yes, economy is important and required to implement anything. However, to bring economy back on track and to grow decisions in the right direction are important otherwise similar situation will remain persist and people will lost hope after listening same promises time and again.

Economy of any country depends on;

1.       Domestic Productivity

2.       Domestic consumption capacity

3.       Exports

T-3 is the concept that if implemented timely and effectively brings Pakistan economically strong with the help of its own muscles, the Youth. 

T3 is Training, Technology and Trade.

Pakistan with a population having more than 60% Youth and only 22% is using internet as per 2017 report.  By Jan 2018 there are 0.5 million unemployed graduates in the country (Ref:https://www.dawn.com/news/1383666) There are some 60 million Youth between age 18 to 30 Years. (Ref:https://www.indexmundi.com/pakistan/demographics_profile.html)

The economy of Pakistan is the 25th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), and 42nd largest in terms of nominal gross domestic product. Pakistan has a population of over 207 million. (Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Pakistan)

Pakistan is an agriculture based country and its economy depends on Exports.  Trade deficit is one of the major reasons behind borrowings.  Pakistan’s annual exports swings around 20 Billions US$ (Ref: https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/pakistan/total-exports-growth) and can be increased to 30 Billions (Ref: https://tribune.com.pk/story/1732381/2-pakistan-12-8b-untapped-potential-exports/)

Pakistan main exports are mineral fuels (19 percent of the total shipments), manufactured goods (19 percent) and beverage and tobacco (13 percent). Others include: food and live animals (11 percent), crude materials (11 percent), chemicals (11 percent), machinery (8 percent) and miscellaneous articles (8 percent). Main export partners are United States (13.6 percent), China (11 percent of the total export), United Arab Emirates (8.5 percent) and Saudi Arabia (8.5 percent). This page provides - Pakistan Exports - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Pakistan Exports - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on November of 2018.(Ref: https://tradingeconomics.com/pakistan/exports)

With above figures this is clear that Internet, Youth and Exports have the potential to align and grow to impact the economy. The concept is simple Train the Youth to utilize Technology to increase trade specifically exports. There is a simple mechanism to implement the concept and this will be discussed in our next article. Food for thought is that One millions trained persons with facilities and a target of US$ Ten Thousand only can increase Ten Billions US$ Exports.