KARACHI: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal has stressed the need for adopting export-led growth doctrine to survive in the international market. Talking to the representatives of the value-added textile sector during his visit to the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturer Association (PHMA) House, the minister said that exports were a major source of foreign exchange in fast developing countries. “We need to cross the threshold of $150 billion by 2025; otherwise, we have no future.” He regretted that Pakistan had not adopted the export-led growth doctrine so far. He said that we are, in fact, lacking “effective marketing approach under which products are made as per need of customers” and market demands. “Currently, we have the sales approach – we sell what we manufacture without consideration of demand and market trends. Produce what market wants, don’t sell what you make,” he added. He further said that a textile group was sponsoring a digital mapping project of cotton plant in India. They were working to grow cotton under controlled environment, while “we have done nothing on research and development”, he said. “This will give them competitive advantage. We are now launching a nationwide campaign for increasing productivity, quality improvement and innovation.” The planning minister said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) did not consist of just China-financed projects. “It has three types of projects – the projects which are funded by the Chinese government; the PSDP-funded projects; and projects financed by multilateral agencies.” He said that the CPEC was a national-level project that would benefit the overall economy of the country. “We want growth of our industries. Under the CPEC, Lahore to Karachi Motorway section will be completely constructed, while China is financing only Multan-Sukkur section of this project. Other sections are being made on the BOT (build–operate–transfer) basis.” He further said that the ML-1 railroad from Karachi to Peshawar was being upgraded to provide better train speeds from existing 60km to 160km, and on completion, this would prove revolutionary for the business transport system. He said that industry-research linkage was necessary, and added that is was a challenge. He said that Pakistan did not have any study of Chinese market and are not prepared to benefit from the CPEC. “We have no information of China’s import patterns and ways to increase our exports to China. China’s labour intensive industries are now becoming uncompetitive due to high production cost so they are shifting manufacturing units to other locations and are focusing on research. Chinese textile industries are keen to establish joint ventures with Pakistani companies and there are opportunities available in the textile sector.” The planning minister said that China had investment and technology, while Pakistan had location and low cost. “If we can seek joint ventures with them, it will benefit businessmen of both countries. These are ideas, which we have to explore.” He further said that Prime Minister Nawaz Shrif would meet the business community once every quarter and a position had been created in the board of the Planning Commission, which would be occupied by a member from the private sector.