This is a complete and absolute lie that Pakistanis keep telling themselves and deceiving themselves for provide a fake crumb of comfort. No one except Pakistanis would believe such a gigantic lie.
'Pakistan's labour costs lower than India's and China's,' says Lead Economist, World Bank, South Asia Region
Vincent Palmade is Lead Economist for the South Asia Region Department at the World Bank HQ in Washington D.C. Before joining the World Bank in 2004, Vincent had worked for twelve years with the consulting major McKinsey and Co, where he was a Partner of the McKinsey Global Institute. He is a graduate from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (US) and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (France).
Last week, BR Research sat down with Vincent on the sidelines of PIDE's annual moot in Islamabad. We had a wide-ranging discussion on Pakistan's competitiveness, in the particular context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Edited excerpts are produced below:
<B>BR Research: Let's commence with the World Bank publication* that you launched today at the PIDE conference. What are some of the key messages in the book for Pakistan?</B>
<B>Vincent Palmade:</B> There are three main messages in the book. The first one is that the competitiveness's starting point is low for South Asia, and also for Pakistan, in particular.
Pakistan's level of exports are five to ten times lower, on a per capita basis, compared to countries like Vietnam, China, or even Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Also, exports have been stagnant in terms of quality and number of products, as there is very little diversification away from textiles. Then there is the issue of the productivity of firms, which, on average, is low, especially for smaller firms. Unfortunately, most of the workers are still trapped in low productivity, semi-formal jobs.
The report's second message is that the potential is really there with favourable external and internal conditions.
Externally, labour costs in Pakistan are now extremely competitive. They are two times lower than India and five times lower than China. It means that well-managed firms can find ways to employ the workforce productively and they can be really competitive, especially in labour-intensive industries. The other favourable condition is that, with rapid urbanisation, conditions are now in place for industries to cluster together into ecosystems, which can create economies of agglomeration, specialisation, cooperation, as well as competition, between clusters, cities, and provinces.
https://fp.brecorder.com/2016/12/20161223116449/
