AhsanAmin
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Pakistan's exports have been declining continuously for past few years. For a country like Pakistan that already faces a very huge trade deficit, this is a very alarming situation since our imports continue to increase simultaneously at a very high rate causing a growing trade deficit every year. The trade imbalance also affects our exchange rate causing all sort of other problems. I do believe that we can reverse this diminishing exports scenario with some honest, systematic and concerted effort. I have tried to give a few suggestions towards the goal of sharply increasing Pakistan's exports by taking the right steps and making the right effort.
I would like to divide this export trade promotion effort into a few salient categories.
1. Awareness of different needs, trends and tastes of foreign consumers in each of the target importing countries. This knowledge of consumer trends would vary country by country. In order to be successful in foreign markets, it is very important that our industrialists and exporters produce goods that meet the high quality demands of the foreign consumers while conforming to taste and style appreciated by the foreign consumers in each particular export country all at very competitive prices.
2. Need for strong and systematic marketing effort particularly in many new markets.
3. Need for introduction of right modern technologies that would make our export products both value added and competitive in foreign markets.
4. Efforts towards giving the industry workers right skills that they could easily manufacture products conforming to tastes and trends of foreign consumers in each different country.
5. Encouraging knowledge based consultancies that would keep exporters abreast of changing trends in importing and exporting foreign countries related to all of the above salient points and would advise industries and related infrastructure that could help and make it very easy for the decision makers in those industries to take the right steps towards successfully making appropriate changes to their industrial businesses so as to thrive in international export markets.
Now I will attempt to give suggestions about how to take practical steps towards each of the above salient export enhancement and promotion effort categories.
1. I believe it is extremely crucial that our exporters are very aware of local demands, specific styles appreciated by foreign consumers in each country in their particular export goods market and are knowledgeable about foreign consumer tastes in their product categories. I think lack of this knowledge is one of the major hurdles behind inability of our exporters to succeed in many foreign markets. Government has to make research centers with the help of trade bodies like APTMA (and others) that would hire competent professionals to analyze these trends in every foreign market. For each of the various textile sub categories, sports goods, surgery tools, furniture, and other export markets, our government and research centers have to make sure that they subscribe every single trade and consumer/fashion trends related magazine and related journals from each country of the world and also look at internet resources that could help identify these target export products related social/fashion trends in markets of interest in every foreign country. These research centers would try to collect as much trade data about international trade activity in different trade categories of interest as possible. These research centers should send qualified, competent and trained professionals to trade fairs in major countries to analyze the changing international trends in every country both related to export activity from competitor countries and import activity from importers from each particular country. The research center professionals and other consultancy outfits could then continuously make recommendations about changing consumer needs/social/fashion trends in every country and guide the industry in making appropriate changes to their products or industrial processes in order to succeed in each particular export market.
2. These research centers and other consultancy outfits should collect data about all importers and other trade players in market for export goods categories of interest from all different countries. This could also be done with the help of embassies in foreign countries who could contact local trade bodies in foreign countries to collect this data. Research centers would also find out what are the right marketing modes to approach importers in each of the foreign country of interest and advise about other local cultural aspects of business dealings throughout the marketing effort and later export activity. Aided by this knowledge, many times successful exporters would be able to make inroads into several new and less traditional export markets.
3. These research centers and consultancy outfits would also try to stay abreast of industrial machinery technology and industrial processes enhancements again by hiring talented professionals and subscribing to all major print and internet resources across the world related to industrial technology for a particular exports goods category so that they could help various industrial groups to modernize or make other appropriate changes to meet the changing customer demands in each of the country.
4. I believe it is extremely important to give the right skills to large number of workers so they understand the style of products appreciated in each of the various foreign countries. Gujrat city, for example, is famous for its unique furniture in our country. Tevta could hire experienced staff that could train already expert furniture artisans in understanding the types, styles and other aesthetic aspects of furniture appreciated in more developed countries of the world so they become innovative and experts in producing furniture that could be exported to particular target countries(these artisans do not need advanced degrees to master this art). Similar efforts could be made to train staff in various textile and other exports goods categories where we already have a strong industrial infrastructure. There are various colleges that train students in textile design but it would be more productive if they could hire staff that would be expert in textile design trends in various countries and could train their students in innovative textile design and related aesthetic aspects so that they design textile products that would be appreciated by the people of particular country. I believe similar effort could be made by other training schools and bodies related to other trades where we have a meaningful export activity.
5. I think there are strong opportunities for highly educated, talented, and hardworking professionals in various export related trades to found successful consultancies that would help and advise other export oriented businesses so as to make them aware of changing trends in the international trade markets, help them in strategic decision making process and provide all related technical and other knowledge so that export businesses could easily make all changes required to succeed in foreign markets.
I would like to divide this export trade promotion effort into a few salient categories.
1. Awareness of different needs, trends and tastes of foreign consumers in each of the target importing countries. This knowledge of consumer trends would vary country by country. In order to be successful in foreign markets, it is very important that our industrialists and exporters produce goods that meet the high quality demands of the foreign consumers while conforming to taste and style appreciated by the foreign consumers in each particular export country all at very competitive prices.
2. Need for strong and systematic marketing effort particularly in many new markets.
3. Need for introduction of right modern technologies that would make our export products both value added and competitive in foreign markets.
4. Efforts towards giving the industry workers right skills that they could easily manufacture products conforming to tastes and trends of foreign consumers in each different country.
5. Encouraging knowledge based consultancies that would keep exporters abreast of changing trends in importing and exporting foreign countries related to all of the above salient points and would advise industries and related infrastructure that could help and make it very easy for the decision makers in those industries to take the right steps towards successfully making appropriate changes to their industrial businesses so as to thrive in international export markets.
Now I will attempt to give suggestions about how to take practical steps towards each of the above salient export enhancement and promotion effort categories.
1. I believe it is extremely crucial that our exporters are very aware of local demands, specific styles appreciated by foreign consumers in each country in their particular export goods market and are knowledgeable about foreign consumer tastes in their product categories. I think lack of this knowledge is one of the major hurdles behind inability of our exporters to succeed in many foreign markets. Government has to make research centers with the help of trade bodies like APTMA (and others) that would hire competent professionals to analyze these trends in every foreign market. For each of the various textile sub categories, sports goods, surgery tools, furniture, and other export markets, our government and research centers have to make sure that they subscribe every single trade and consumer/fashion trends related magazine and related journals from each country of the world and also look at internet resources that could help identify these target export products related social/fashion trends in markets of interest in every foreign country. These research centers would try to collect as much trade data about international trade activity in different trade categories of interest as possible. These research centers should send qualified, competent and trained professionals to trade fairs in major countries to analyze the changing international trends in every country both related to export activity from competitor countries and import activity from importers from each particular country. The research center professionals and other consultancy outfits could then continuously make recommendations about changing consumer needs/social/fashion trends in every country and guide the industry in making appropriate changes to their products or industrial processes in order to succeed in each particular export market.
2. These research centers and other consultancy outfits should collect data about all importers and other trade players in market for export goods categories of interest from all different countries. This could also be done with the help of embassies in foreign countries who could contact local trade bodies in foreign countries to collect this data. Research centers would also find out what are the right marketing modes to approach importers in each of the foreign country of interest and advise about other local cultural aspects of business dealings throughout the marketing effort and later export activity. Aided by this knowledge, many times successful exporters would be able to make inroads into several new and less traditional export markets.
3. These research centers and consultancy outfits would also try to stay abreast of industrial machinery technology and industrial processes enhancements again by hiring talented professionals and subscribing to all major print and internet resources across the world related to industrial technology for a particular exports goods category so that they could help various industrial groups to modernize or make other appropriate changes to meet the changing customer demands in each of the country.
4. I believe it is extremely important to give the right skills to large number of workers so they understand the style of products appreciated in each of the various foreign countries. Gujrat city, for example, is famous for its unique furniture in our country. Tevta could hire experienced staff that could train already expert furniture artisans in understanding the types, styles and other aesthetic aspects of furniture appreciated in more developed countries of the world so they become innovative and experts in producing furniture that could be exported to particular target countries(these artisans do not need advanced degrees to master this art). Similar efforts could be made to train staff in various textile and other exports goods categories where we already have a strong industrial infrastructure. There are various colleges that train students in textile design but it would be more productive if they could hire staff that would be expert in textile design trends in various countries and could train their students in innovative textile design and related aesthetic aspects so that they design textile products that would be appreciated by the people of particular country. I believe similar effort could be made by other training schools and bodies related to other trades where we have a meaningful export activity.
5. I think there are strong opportunities for highly educated, talented, and hardworking professionals in various export related trades to found successful consultancies that would help and advise other export oriented businesses so as to make them aware of changing trends in the international trade markets, help them in strategic decision making process and provide all related technical and other knowledge so that export businesses could easily make all changes required to succeed in foreign markets.
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