South Asia has the potential to be the world's premier export region

With the right set of productivity-enhancing policies, South Asia could more than triple its share in global markets of electronics and motor vehicles and come close to doubling its already significant market share in apparel (excluding textiles and leather) by 2030. South Asia could become the fastest-growing exporting region of the world if authorities in Pakistan and its South Asian neighbors implement a set of policy actions aimed at improving the business environment, connecting to global value chains (GVC) and leveraging clusters, said a new World Bank report – South Asia’s Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse.
The report argues that increasing productivity of firms in Pakistan and the rest of South Asia is the only sustainable path to improving competitiveness. The report highlights well-known challenges in the region’s investment climate, but more importantly draws attention to less well-researched areas such as the role of cities and clusters, global value chains, and firms’ abilities to innovate and efficiently use resources, including technology.

As acknowledged in the recent World Bank 2017 Doing Business report, the implementation of needed reforms is gaining momentum, and needs to be accelerated. Pakistan should also leverage the benefits of its city clusters by actively mitigating congestion forces and facilitating access to industrial land. Expanded participation in global value chains to markets through improvements in trade policies, logistics, and skills will also be beneficial. The report also calls for helping firms innovate, improve their managerial capabilities, and use technology to better connect with customers and suppliers for boosting competitiveness.

The region’s great potential to boost its competitiveness is evidenced through a number of examples in the report, ranging from the highly successful apparel industries in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to Pakistan’s light manufacturing cluster in Sialkot which has achieved dominant global market shares in products such as soccer balls and surgical instruments. 

“Pakistan, in particular, has important strategic endowments and development potential,” says Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank’s Country Director for Pakistan. “Located at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, China and the Middle East, Pakistan is at the heart of a regional market with a vast population, large and diverse resources, and untapped potential for trade.”

Pakistan leads many global competitors when it comes to wage competitiveness and proximity to key markets yet continues to experience weakening in exports competitiveness. Exports remain concentrated in the textiles and food sectors and investment in global value chain capabilities including physical capital, human capital, institutions and logistics remain limited.

“The region has a significant untapped potential in raising productivity through development of urban ecosystems providing thick markets for skilled labour, large tracts of industrial land, and world class logistics,” says Vincent Palmade, Lead Economist and one of the report’s co-authors. According to the report, firms realise significant productivity benefits from locating in areas with a wide diversity of workers, suppliers, and customers.