Lahore School of Economics

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Lahore School Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy concludes
March 26, 2015

Lahore School of Economics Eleventh Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy concluded in Burki Campus this afternoon.

Earlier, the second day of the Conference opened with a session on finance and industrial development. The first paper in this session by Dr. Shakil Faruqi (Professor of Financial Systems at Lahore School of Economics) focused on how development finance institutions can be used to promote industrial growth in the country.

The second paper in this session by Imran Ahmad (Additional Director of Infrastructure Housing & SME Finance Development at State Bank of Pakistan) presented a detailed profile of flow of credit to the manufacturing based small and medium enterprises in Pakistan. The study showed that flow of financing to the manufacturing sector witnessed gradual and steady increase in absolute terms; however its share in total industry credit saw a sharp decline over a period of nine years, while financing to manufacturing SMEs after witnessing a declining trend saw an increasing trend over a period of six years.

The second session of day two focused on the importance of promoting innovation and building technological capabilities. The first paper in this session was presented by Dr. Irfanul Haque (Special Advisor at the South Centre, Geneva) that explored the ingredients of a coherent industrial development program for Pakistan. According to this paper, an effective industry policy must focus on: (i) reducing the incidence of management failures (ii) creating and strengthening Pak firms’ links with the global value chains (iii) defining Pakistan’s strategic interests in regional trade and (iv) making domestic competition a force for enhancing firm-level productive efficiency. Dr Rajah Rasiah (Professor of Economics at University of Malaya) presented a paper (jointly written with Nazia Nazeer) that argued that Pakistan requires a dynamic industrial policy that should focus on technological up-gradation of the country’s existing manufacturing sectors and the creation of competitive advantage in high value added sectors in order to achieve sustained long term economic growth. The final paper in this session was presented by Dr. Akbar Noman (Senior Fellow at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) at Columbia University). This paper examined the implications of recent theoretical and empirical work on leaning, industrial and technology (LIT) policies for Pakistan’s economic revival.

The third session of day 2 focused on challenges faced by Pakistan’s manufacturing sector in a global setting. The first paper in this session was presented by Dr. Khalil Hamdani (Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Lahore School of Economics) who argued that there is a need for Pakistan to be actively engaged in globalization. The paper presented main features of globalization and also suggested how these can be tapped in ways that modernize the country’s industrial sector and also integrate the economy into international production. The next paper in this session was presented by Dr. Safdar Sohail (Pakistan’s Economic Minister to European Union Brussels). This paper explored the reasons and implications of the popularity of geo-economic narratives in the context of the country’s trade policy. The paper concluded that a successful trade policy must keep a fine balance between the geo-strategic environment in the region and market considerations while making regional integration choices. Dr. Hanns Pichler (from Vienna University of Economics and Business) presented the last paper of this session. The paper highlighted the importance of small and medium enterprises and the significance of formulating SME-conducive policies.

Day 2 of the conference ended with a panel session titled ‘Towards a strategy for Pakistan as a regional manufacturing hub’. It was conducted jointly by Dr. Rashid Amjad (Professor of Economics and Director, Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Lahore School of Economics) summarized the main messages from the two-day Conference.

Large number of distinguished economists, academicians and policymakers from both the national and international platforms attended the two-days Conference.