Industrializing Punjab

Industry and investment are the cornerstone of any economy. The Prime Minister himself has declared Investment and Trade as the top priorities of the Government. Likewise, Government of Punjab working in tandem with the Federal Government and working under the vision of the Prime Minister has resolved to prioritize Industry, Commerce and Investment as the pivots of economic growth in Punjab. Government of the Punjab, sees industrialization as a key pillar of its growth strategy and the main instrument that will generate a large number of productive jobs for its youth and earn a substantial amount of foreign exchange through value added exports. Industries, Commerce, Investment, and Skills Development Department has formulated a basic set of policies that will create the regulatory environment necessary for achieving the above targets.

In order to transform the vision of the Prime Minister into reality the Industries, Commerce, Investment and Skills Development Department recently developed the Punjab Industrial Policy 2018, approved by the provincial cabinet. The policy addresses the factor markets issues for market failures and provides support to address information failures that constrain industrial performance. The policy has made some over-arching targets for the sector over the next five years by 2023 which include; achieving an average industrial growth of 10% per annum; increasing the formal employment creation to 1.2 million annually; training 0.5 million skilled labour annually & improving product competitiveness in priority sectors.

Further in order to implement the policy, an industrialization strategy has also been developed under the Punjab Growth Framework and includes several key pillars. Under these the government will; support provision of affordable and quality industrial land and infrastructure; increase affordable credit to SMEs; up-grade Human Capital in the province for industrial growth; strengthen and develop key clusters; Provide business development services; Implement measures to increase private sector investment (domestic and international); and use of spatial planning and spatial strategy measures to address disparities and improve performance of industrial assets.