Is Pakistan Better Off Industrially (and More Diverse in Industrial Production) Compared to Bangladesh?

[Imran Khan]

Simple but labor-intensive production process to fabricate aluminum motorcycle engine piston heads in Pakistan. Bangladesh has nothing like this - when it'd be so simple to implement with minimal investments in mechanization and machinery. I'm sure the cost to make something like this in Pakistan is way cheaper than anywhere else. One reason why this kind of investment is not made in Bangladesh is because Bangladeshi trade and commerce ministers are paid agents of Indian govt. and companies and resist any attempts to industrialize Bangladesh, ensuring we will always depend on Indian products and services (like medical care).

Look at this guy, he owns several Indian hospitals in Bangladesh including Apollo (now Evercare). He is the number one reason why Indian products do not get punitive tariffs in Bangladesh.

Tipu Munshi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

did they ever used new metal ? always making things with scrap

 

[Bilal9]

did they ever used new metal ? always making things with scrap

Well they will if you pay money for a more expensive better product.

The last two fan mfr. videos show they are using Aluminium ingots. Probably imported.

 

[MultaniGuy]

As a Muslim from Pakistan I wish well for Bangladeshis who are 90% Muslim.

May Allah give Bangladesh prosperity.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

@bluesky bhai, quality and automation of manufacturing has slowly improved as I have seen in the last five years even.

Take motorcycle chain sprockets for example.

1. In previous videos we used to see 3 or 4 steps to get to a certain product stage, they have shortened these steps by using improved machines
2. They are also using semi-automated lathes for making bevels after forming teeth, they used to use manual lathes for that.
3. There is increased use of CNC machines for every step on the manufacturing process.

Look at this first video and compare it to earlier 2nd video, making the same sprockets, made from scrap ship steel plates.

We are a far bigger ship-breaker nation than Pakistan is. They make hundreds of different items from ship plate, we don't make jack squat. I have seen excavator buckets, bike sprockets and umpteen items made in Pakistan from ship breaking scrap. Not even talking about melting stainless steel and aluminum and making scissors, knives, surgical implements from scratch which is a huge export sector there other than garments.

We don't have to worry about Pakistanis, they will do what they need to. Even in roadside shops.

Unfortunately - Bengali entrepreneurs remain unaware and oblivious to these diversified value addition sectors and are happy to import from India and China. These entrepreneurs are just rank idiots or do not possess any smarts to set up manufacturing to substitute imports. Their trade union reps also cannot move the govt. amlas strongly enough to increase tariff on imported motorcycle spares to make their own job easier. When Indians finally double their prices, these gadhas will happily pay double to triple for the same parts they could make at home.

Bunch of gadhas in our govt. who don't understand how to watch our own interest and support foreign suppliers instead.

Meanwhile we have the "chetona-idiot", "provat-ferry", "mongol-shovajatra" bootlicker gadhas jumping up and down on how good their "shujoggo-konnya" leader is doing her job.

A mo-fo f*cked up uneducated "tong-er-dokandar" populace deserves their "gareebon-ka-huq lootney-wallah" f*cked up leaders. Kha shalara goo-kha. Tao pasher desher goo.

These type of recycling and machine parts manufacturing also exists in Jinjira and Dholai Khal. In fact the entire region on the opposite side of Buriganga river engaged in such activities. Their value aded on manufacturing is 700 billion Taka I read somewhere. Here is Keraniganj, entire ship up to 3000 ton are being build by laborers just by their eye measurements.

I am not going to discuss every tit-bit of manufacturing and industrial capability of Bangladesh and Pakistan. I will look at aggregate. According to World Bank, Manufacturing value added(2021) in Pakistan is $41 billion while in Bangladesh it is $88 billion.

World Bank Open Data

Free and open access to global development data

data.worldbank.org

Of course, both of these figures include the garments industry of respective countries. You can not exclude garments industry from manufacturing or industrial production.

 

[Bilal9]

Here is the assembly sequence for Metro 70 cc motorcycle (and engine) which is a 70 cc Honda clone in Pakistan. Bravado and chest-beating about high tech notwithstanding from some bhakts, this is what the majority of village poor people in our subcontinent can afford, at least starting out. Major bang for the buck.

As seen, some of the major parts are locally made in Pakistan and I'm sure more will be added as time goes on. One can also see how efficient the assembly sequence is, with most parts near manual reach. The pull down pneumatic wrenches are pre-set with certain torque setting (after which torquing is released), saving huge amount of time. all done in a very small room. Can you imagine what Bangladesh could do with a couple dozen efficient small factories like this value-addition wise? You need ONE ROOM, not a whole warehouse shed.....

Also, here is a cast and forged motorcycle Kickstart lever manufacturing operation....

These type of recycling and machine parts manufacturing also exists in Jinjira and Dholai Khal. In fact the entire region on the opposite side of Buriganga river engaged in such activities. Their value aded on manufacturing is 700 billion Taka I read somewhere. Here is Keraniganj, entire ship up to 3000 ton are being build by laborers just by their eye measurements.

I am not going to discuss every tit-bit of manufacturing and industrial capability of Bangladesh and Pakistan. I will look at aggregate. According to World Bank, Manufacturing value added(2021) in Pakistan is $41 billion while in Bangladesh it is $88 billion.

World Bank Open Data

Free and open access to global development data

data.worldbank.org

Of course, both of these figures include the garments industry of respective countries. You can not exclude garments industry from manufacturing or industrial production.

@Homo Sapiens bhai, Bangladesh manufacturing value addition is disproportionately higher only because of apparel, which is our bread and butter, but as everyone knows, Bangladesh light engg. value addition is pathetic.

This is the subject of this thread - how to improve light engg. mfg. and export output - by watching examples from Pakistan and maybe at some point collaborating with their entrepreneurs.

This was a promising sector but Indian ra shob chuisha niya jaitesey.

Amra goor banai ar luv-er goor Indian pipra (Indian Banya) tey khai. Oder lov er shesh nai, jotodin shujog diben chuisha shob niya jabey.

We need to do a lot better with import restrictions and tariffs on Indian motorcycle parts imports - A LOT BETTER....

If we kept our value addition locally, everyone (Hindu. Muslim, Buddhist, animist) could have jobs and could eat.

But won't happen while we have Indian RAW Agent Tipu Munshi as commerce minister and his buddy Tapan Kanti Ghosh as Commerce Secretary.

Hasina Sheyal er kasey murgi diye rakhsey.

Ahammuk !!

 

[Homo Sapiens]

@Homo Sapiens bhai, Bangladesh manufacturing value addition is disproportionately higher only because of apparel, which is our bread and butter, but as everyone knows, Bangladesh light engg. value addition is pathetic.

@Bilal9 Bhai, Light Engineering sector in Bangladesh is worth $8.2 billion out of which $400 million got exported in 2019-2020 fiscal. There are 50,000 Light Engineering SMEs in BD producing 10,000 types of products employing 1 million people.

Govt looks to give light engineering a leg up

The government has taken an initiative to formulate policy to promote and develop engineering industries, create jobs and expand the country’s industrial base.

www.thedailystar.net

Can you please post similar stats for Pakistan so that we can understand where BD stands vis a vis PK?

 

[Bilal9]

@Bilal9 Bhai, Light Engineering sector in Bangladesh is worth $8.2 billion out of which $400 million got exported in 2019-2020 fiscal. There are 50,000 Light Engineering SMEs in BD producing 10,000 types of products employing 1 million people.

Govt looks to give light engineering a leg up

The government has taken an initiative to formulate policy to promote and develop engineering industries, create jobs and expand the country’s industrial base.

www.thedailystar.net

Can you please post similar stats for Pakistan so that we can understand where BD stands vis a vis PK?

I don't think those figures ($8.2 Billion production and $400 Million exports in engg. sector) are credible or can hold water.

You have to ask how Bangladesh govt. statistical folks arrived at those numbers. These can be called "Hasina idle boast" numbers.

In 2019 total engineering exports from Pakistan stood at $180 Million or so, I think. Which is a lot lower than Bangladesh, strangely, even considering how many things get made in Pakistan.

With little investment, Pakistan's engineering sector can grow | The Express Tribune

Govt focuses on big-ticket export items, does not give importance to other goods

tribune.com.pk

 

[Bilal9]

Here is a regular three wheeler (Piaggio Ape copy) being manufactured in Pakistan. The use of pneumatic jigs, precise tolerances and MIG welding indicates higher level of precision in fabrication and also efficiency and speed, not to mention independence from foreign imports for a very common small Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) in wide use in Pakistani, Indian and Bangladesh cities for small scale delivery services and even passenger taxis. Bangladesh has no such fabrication and is content to import from India using twice the money it would take to manufacture locally. You can thank the Hasina govt. in not promoting the local manufacture of such items in Bangladesh using tariff support by blocking Indian imports.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Here is a regular three wheeler (Piaggio Ape copy) being manufactured in Pakistan. The use of pneumatic jigs, precise tolerances and MIG welding indicates higher level of precision in fabrication and also efficiency and speed, not to mention independence from foreign imports for a very common small Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) in wide use in Pakistani, Indian and Bangladesh cities for small scale delivery services and even passenger taxis. Bangladesh has no such fabrication and is content to import from India using twice the money it would take to manufacture locally. You can thank the Hasina govt. in not promoting the local manufacture of such items in Bangladesh using tariff support by blocking Indian imports.

Any idea how much these cost compared to what’s available in BD?

And why didn’t Pakistan export these to Bangladesh during BNP/Jamat era?

They could have solidified a customer base by now?

@UKBengali
@EasyNow

Whenever I ask Pakistanis why they didn’t make inroads into Bangladesh, during BNP/Jamat era - they say Bangladeshi market was too small to bother with.

 

[EasyNow]

Here is a regular three wheeler (Piaggio Ape copy) being manufactured in Pakistan. The use of pneumatic jigs, precise tolerances and MIG welding indicates higher level of precision in fabrication and also efficiency and speed, not to mention independence from foreign imports for a very common small Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) in wide use in Pakistani, Indian and Bangladesh cities for small scale delivery services and even passenger taxis. Bangladesh has no such fabrication and is content to import from India using twice the money it would take to manufacture locally. You can thank the Hasina govt. in not promoting the local manufacture of such items in Bangladesh using tariff support by blocking Indian imports.

Not promoting local manufacture?! What an idiotic statement. So the garment trade, bicycle trade, shipbuilding etc all exist because govt promoted it? You never give credit where it's due but will put blame where it's illogical.

Govts job is to provide a stable environment for business.

It's a free market, if it's such a great idea why didn't you or your 'high up friends' do it yourself?

 

[Tom-tom]

Not promoting local manufacture?! What an idiotic statement. So the garment trade, bicycle trade, shipbuilding etc all exist because govt promoted it? You never give credit where it's due but will put blame where it's illogical.

Govts job is to provide a stable environment for business.

It's a free market, if it's such a great idea why didn't you or your 'high up friends' do it yourself?

Any responsible gov, would not just leave it up to free market. There is macro and micro economic things that can be done. Also there are things bd gov has done for the rmg industry, that bypasses domestic and international law. East Asian countries have done this and is not illegal.

 

[bluesky]

Look at this guy, he owns several Indian hospitals in Bangladesh including Apollo (now Evercare). He is the number one reason why Indian products do not get punitive tariffs in Bangladesh.

মুরগি পাহারা দেয়ার জন্য শিয়ালবাবাকে দায়িত্ব দেয়া হলে যা হয়। তবে , আমি জানতামনা যে Apollo-র মালিক এই শিয়ালবাবা টিপু মুনশী ।

Any responsible gov, would not just leave it up to free market. There is macro and micro economic things that can be done. Also there are things bd gov has done for the rmg industry, that bypasses domestic and international law. East Asian countries have done this and is not illegal.

You are very right. What you wrote is more true when a country is underdeveloped, such as BD, or developing such as Vietnam. A poor country with a huge population needs govt support and backing to flourish its industrial base.

In the case of BD, govt happily allow people to steal the seed money from the banks and I have not read anywhere if there is an Industrial Development Bank in BD.

Without its presence, the initiators have no place to ask for financial assistance.

 

[EasyNow]

Any responsible gov, would not just leave it up to free market. There is macro and micro economic things that can be done. Also there are things bd gov has done for the rmg industry, that bypasses domestic and international law. East Asian countries have done this and is not illegal.

How many potential businesses are there in existence? How many do you want the govt to promote to you?

There are 166m people in BD, do you think everyone is stupid not to figure out this great money making opportunity?

@bilal9 has idiotically named an industry out of the blue - zero feasibility, zero research and you want the govt to have promoted it already. Does that make sense?

If you believe this is a missed opportunity, by all means do it. Source the engineers, find the designers, design a vehicle, source the engines, source the materials, find a site, set up a manufacturing plant, promote the brand and then become rich... and then sell these cheaper than the proven Chinese or Indian equivalent.

Do you see what an idiotic point it is now?

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

How many potential businesses are there in existence? How many do you want the govt to promote to you?

There are 166m people in BD, do you think everyone is stupid not to figure out this great money making opportunity?

@bilal9 has idiotically named an industry out of the blue - zero feasibility, zero research and you want the govt to have promoted it already. Does that make sense?

If you believe this is a missed opportunity, by all means do it. Source the engineers, find the designers, design a vehicle, source the engines, source the materials, find a site, set up a manufacturing plant, promote the brand and then become rich... and then sell these cheaper than the proven Chinese or Indian equivalent.

Do you see what an idiotic point it is now?

So, why didn’t BNP do any of this?

Would it not have been better than bombing Shahjalal’s maazar?

 

[EasyNow]

So, why didn’t BNP do any of this?

Would it not have been better than bombing Shahjalal’s maazar?

Apparently, late-in-the-day 'gyaan' is more important than an actual track record.

That buffoon @Bilal9 is too stupid to see that the factory he has cited is doing the body work only. They would still have to import engines and every other complex part of the machinery. And Pakistan produces iron ore locally - which BD would have to import too.