Pakistan's economy has achieved 2.4% GDP growth in the year 2008-09, which now stands at US$ 168 billion. Manufacturing, being the second largest sector of the economy contributed 18.4% to the GDP. Large scale manufacturing (LSM) accounts for 12.1% whereas the Small Scale Manufacturing (SSM) contributes 4.7% to the overall GDP.

Pakistan aims to shift its industrial focus from the agriculture to engineering industry to support other industries with strong export potential. Twenty five percent of the domestic demand of the engineering sector is met by the local industry while the remaining is catered through imports. The import of engineering goods stood at US$ 10.84 billion (including the machinery imports worth of US$ 4.92 billion), whereas the exports stood at US$ 264 million, in the year 2008-09.

The government also aims to increase the share of engineering in the manufacturing sector to 30% through various sub-sectors both in heavy engineering and light engineering.

Large Scale Manufacturing (July - June 2008-09) approx
ITEMS	UNITS	PRODUCTION
Yarn	Million Kg.	2958.53
Cloth	Million Sq. Mtr.	1017.87
Fertilizers	000 Tonnes	5679.60
Vegetable Ghee	000 Tonnes	1054.67
Sugar	000 Tonnes	4274.67
Cement	000 Tonnes	27036.00
Beverages	000 Doz. Bottles	564981.33
Cigarettes	Million Nos.	74166.67
Jute Textiles	000 Tonnes	131.73
Rubber & Related Products	000 Nos.	29277.33
Chemicals	000 Tonnes	708.53
Paints & Varnishes	Tonnes	30118.67
Polishes & Creams	Million Grams	953.87
Paper & Paper Boards	000 Tonnes	702.40
Steel Products	000 Tonnes	1556.53
T.V. Sets	000 Nos.	428.67
Electric Bulbs	Million Nos.	95.01
Electric Tubes	000 Metres	13681.33

 

MACHINERY IMPORTED (2008-09) US$ (Million)
Power Generating Machinery	1304.622
Office Mach. Incl. Data Pros. Equp.	285.6069
Textile Machinery	252.1354
Construction & Mining Machinery	88.83558
Electrical Machinery & Apparatus	715.7045
Telecom Mobile Phone Other Apparatus	700.0779 131.6082 568.4697
Agricultural Mach. & Implement	106.518
Other Machinery	1469.013

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: A DEVELOPING MARKET

Pakistan is a growing market for automobiles and auto parts, offering various business and investment opportunities in this region. The automobile sector contributed US$ 3.6 billion in GDP and has attracted US$ 84.24 million FDI in 2008-09. The sector directly employs 192,000 workers and contributes16% input to the manufacturing sector.

Further, the vehicle population of Pakistan has surpassed 8.8 million units giving rise to demand for auto parts. The local spare parts manufacturing in Pakistan is approximately US$ 1 billion per annum, catering 22% to total demand, however; 78% demand is still met by imports.

PROCESS ENGINEERING: AN EMERGING SECTOR

The growth in the engineering industry is aimed at introducing process efficiencies leading to technological up-gradation at different levels of manufacturing processes.

The major industrial sectors in Pakistan with extensive application of process engineering include pharmaceutical, food and beverages, cement, petrochemical and textiles. These sectors have high export potential and are making significant progress to improve production, meet international quality standards and subsequently support national economy by import substitution.