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The downhill slope in Pakistan’s industrial development: Who is to blame?
Global Village Space |
Dr. Farid A. Malik |
Recently the President of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has highlighted the importance of Industry-academia linkages. In the year 2003, as Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, I approached the same Chamber for a meeting, which was turned down. At that time the city was doing wonders. There were export orders and a lot of revenue. A do-it-yourself approach was adopted.
Forty projects were launched by ILG in which solid linkages were established.
An airport was also built by the private sector to facilitate exports. The exporters wanted to do it on their own without help or facilitation from outside. I did not give up, luckily two of my students were working for Saga Sports, the pride of Sialkot. It was a complete city with its own hospital, school, and playing fields. Through their good offices, I was able to meet the executive committee of SCCI to discuss linkages not just with academia but also public sector technologies available in Defence Production enterprises around Islamabad.
Read more: What Pakistan needs to develop its mining sector
In order to interact with the industry, an industry liaison group ILG was formed at PSF and the first MBA was hired to introduce commercial sense into research. ILG has now been renamed as R & D Industry Programme. Under this approach, projects were sought from the industry together with a concept of the end user. It was a triangular approach. End-user, researcher, and funding linked together for the commercial application. Forty projects were launched by ILG in which solid linkages were established.
A corrosion laboratory was set-up at the University of Punjab to investigate Dis-bonding of the coating of the underground gas pipelines. Sui Southern was the end-user while the research was carried out by Dr. Ijaz Hussain Khan of Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (ICET), funding was jointly provided by PSF and SSGC. The expertise of two expatriates was also sought. Dr. Amir Hussain from Germany studied the coating interface while Dr. Inam Khokhar of USA looked at the potential corrosion threat together with Dr. Khan. It was for the first time that the entire project was successfully accomplished without the involvement of expensive foreign experts.
Today exports are down. Research is needed to add value while the researchers lack the capacity for commercial application. As a nation, we started off well but then lost track in between.
In 2003, Sialkot had export orders for sports, surgical, and leather goods with Saga Sports producing soccer balls for the industry leaders. There was not much interest in research as business was thriving. I requested them to involve local researchers so that their capacity could be enhanced. Finally, on my insistence Saga Sports agreed to use the embossing system at Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), which was grossly underutilized. The proposal was to send 40,000 soccer balls daily for embossment at HIT. It was a win-win situation for both revenues for HIT and savings of capital investment for Saga.
Read more: Corruption in the guise of development funds: Any accountability?
Today exports are down. Research is needed to add value while the researchers lack the capacity for commercial application. As a nation, we started off well but then lost track in between. At the time of partition, we decided to follow the Western route of technology development i. e. scientific research followed by its application and finally commercialization. All three areas require separate expertise which must be understood. In 1947, the father of the nation wrote to Prof. Rutherford, the Noble Laurate in Physics, seeking his help in starting research in the country. On his recommendation, his student Dr. Rafi Chaudhry joined Government College Lahore. The first high tension Physics lab in Asia was established by him which stands tall across the road from the main gate of the civil secretariat. By mid-fifties, the entire framework was in place. Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), and 12 TCF of gas at Sui was discovered. We were ready to take off.
Read full article:
The downhill slope in Pakistan’s industrial development: Who is to blame?
Global Village Space |
Dr. Farid A. Malik |
Recently the President of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has highlighted the importance of Industry-academia linkages. In the year 2003, as Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, I approached the same Chamber for a meeting, which was turned down. At that time the city was doing wonders. There were export orders and a lot of revenue. A do-it-yourself approach was adopted.
Forty projects were launched by ILG in which solid linkages were established.
An airport was also built by the private sector to facilitate exports. The exporters wanted to do it on their own without help or facilitation from outside. I did not give up, luckily two of my students were working for Saga Sports, the pride of Sialkot. It was a complete city with its own hospital, school, and playing fields. Through their good offices, I was able to meet the executive committee of SCCI to discuss linkages not just with academia but also public sector technologies available in Defence Production enterprises around Islamabad.
Read more: What Pakistan needs to develop its mining sector
In order to interact with the industry, an industry liaison group ILG was formed at PSF and the first MBA was hired to introduce commercial sense into research. ILG has now been renamed as R & D Industry Programme. Under this approach, projects were sought from the industry together with a concept of the end user. It was a triangular approach. End-user, researcher, and funding linked together for the commercial application. Forty projects were launched by ILG in which solid linkages were established.
A corrosion laboratory was set-up at the University of Punjab to investigate Dis-bonding of the coating of the underground gas pipelines. Sui Southern was the end-user while the research was carried out by Dr. Ijaz Hussain Khan of Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (ICET), funding was jointly provided by PSF and SSGC. The expertise of two expatriates was also sought. Dr. Amir Hussain from Germany studied the coating interface while Dr. Inam Khokhar of USA looked at the potential corrosion threat together with Dr. Khan. It was for the first time that the entire project was successfully accomplished without the involvement of expensive foreign experts.
Today exports are down. Research is needed to add value while the researchers lack the capacity for commercial application. As a nation, we started off well but then lost track in between.
In 2003, Sialkot had export orders for sports, surgical, and leather goods with Saga Sports producing soccer balls for the industry leaders. There was not much interest in research as business was thriving. I requested them to involve local researchers so that their capacity could be enhanced. Finally, on my insistence Saga Sports agreed to use the embossing system at Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), which was grossly underutilized. The proposal was to send 40,000 soccer balls daily for embossment at HIT. It was a win-win situation for both revenues for HIT and savings of capital investment for Saga.
Read more: Corruption in the guise of development funds: Any accountability?
Today exports are down. Research is needed to add value while the researchers lack the capacity for commercial application. As a nation, we started off well but then lost track in between. At the time of partition, we decided to follow the Western route of technology development i. e. scientific research followed by its application and finally commercialization. All three areas require separate expertise which must be understood. In 1947, the father of the nation wrote to Prof. Rutherford, the Noble Laurate in Physics, seeking his help in starting research in the country. On his recommendation, his student Dr. Rafi Chaudhry joined Government College Lahore. The first high tension Physics lab in Asia was established by him which stands tall across the road from the main gate of the civil secretariat. By mid-fifties, the entire framework was in place. Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), and 12 TCF of gas at Sui was discovered. We were ready to take off.
Read full article:
The downhill slope in Pakistan’s industrial development: Who is to blame?
