A Strategy for Reversing Pakistan's Dismal Export Performance

This paper examines Pakistan's export performance during the last three decades and finds that it has been very poor in comparison with the performance of other countries in Asia. Although Pakistan is exporting to a diversified market base, the high level of product concentration and low sophistication level of the country's exports are crucial factors underlying this poor performance. This paper identifies agriculture and medium technology exports as potential drivers of export growth and highlights specific policies and investments needed to enhance the competitiveness of exports from these sectors. In addition, the paper examines the policy environment for export competitiveness and proposes measures for providing a policy framework, particularly a supportive exchange rate policy, to boost the performance of the sector. Finally, it puts forward broad recommendations for promoting the export sector of Pakistan