Excessive imports

I was in Karachi last month and saw imported soda ash from Kenya being loaded on to trucks. The question is: why are we allowing the import of soda ash when it is already being produced in Pakistan? I remember from my school days that soda ash is being produced at Khewra (District Jhelum) since 1940. I do not understand why the government doesn’t reduce imports of those products where domestic capacity is greater than demand. It needs to support local manufacturers and discourage imports through non-tariff barriers so that imports, especially of products that are being manufactured in Pakistan, become negligible.

India has regular customs duty and a plethora of non-tariff barriers in the form of cess that add on to the import bill, rendering the import uncompetitive vis-a -vis the local production. Pakistan, however, appears to be an ‘import happy’ nation that forms strategies to encourage imports and discourage local manufacturers. This has to change if we want change.

Laiba Fatima

Lahore