The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has jolted the world economy suspending business activities and forcing millions of people to stay at home. According to estimates, COVID-19 crisis would leave 25 million unemployed in Pakistan pushing millions towards hunger and poverty. Sectors like tourism and travel, stock markets, entertainment, manufacturing etc. are the worst hit. The global economy projection is 2.9% to 2.4% while China's economic forecast has been downgraded from 6.1% to 4.9% (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] 2020). The world GDP growth is expected to decrease from earlier projection of 2.9% to 2.4%. European Union will be the most affected in terms of trade loss due to COVID-19 which is estimated as $ 15,597 million (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD] 2020). The United States is the second most affected country with trade impact of $ 5,779 million. India also falls among top 15 affected countries with trade impact of $ 348 million. Chemicals sector, textile and apparel, automotive, electrical machinery, leather products, metals & metal products, wood products, and furniture are the sectors, which received a severe blow in India.
The paper studies youth development in Pakistan from a provincial lens and examines policies and relevant measures of each province in this regard. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to education are also evaluated and it is observed that literacy rate remains low due to lack of access and quality education. There is not enough spending from provincial governments on the education sector. There is also dearth of technical and vocational training institutes at the provincial level which hampers skill development among youth. Lack of funds and outdated training materials are the main reasons for low enrolment in such institutes. Unemployment rate among youth needs to be curtailed by providing them ample opportunities and capacity building. It is recommended that more vocational training institutes should be established along with increasing their budgetary allocations. Career counseling centres at district level are also required.
It is an established fact that there is strong association between investment and economic growth of a country but no such direct consensus had been developed on the type of investment. i.e. what are the different sectors in which investment has led to long term impact and did contributed to the growth. The current study in this regard will focus on investigating the relationship of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Private Investment with the growth. The study will use data from 1980-81 to 2015-16 in this regard and employ Johansen cointegration to investigate the long run relationship. It is found that with foreign direct investment, health expenditure and transport and communication expenditure has negative relationship in the long run. Where as private investment, education expenditure and expenditure on housing has positive relationship with growth. Based on these findings recommendations were totally investment centric with primary focus on reduction in taxes and other barriers to bring in more investment in long run. Beside taxation, recommendations were made on administrative balance both in tax system and public sectors which were made part of provincial domain after 18th amendment.
The Federal Government levied an Export Development Surcharge (EDS) equivalent to 0.25% of the export value on all exports from 1st July, 1991 to establish an Export Development Fund. The basic purpose was to fund activities to address challenges faced by producers and exporters with emphasis on enhancing the performance of export sector. Export Development Fund (EDF) is administered by the Board of Administrators under the chairmanship of Minister for Commerce. EDF receives grant proposals from representative bodies of exporters e.g. trade associations, chambers as well as various Government departments. SDPI with support from PREIA organized a public private dialogue, with the aim to raise awareness and facilitate business community for effective utilization of EDF and to discuss constraints in its disbursement and utilization.
Internal migration and labour mobility is now increasingly being studied through the lens of human security. Global estimates suggest that 740 million people around the world are internal migrants (UNOCHA 2010). Given its large number, especially within developing countries, internal migration has the economic potential to contribute positively towards greater human security and development objectives falling under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework.' As compared to international migration, internal migration involves a workforce four times larger (Qin et al. 2014) that hails from poorer backgrounds and remits money to a wider number of poor families (Deshingkar and Grimm 2004). It also provides migrant households opportunities to advance human security outcomes by moving to a location that promises improved access to education, health and employment opportunities.
There is a global realization in all governmental setups of the need to provoke the efficient appraisal of crop water budgeting in order to manage water resources efficiently. This study aims to use the satellite remote sensing techniques to determine the water deficit in the crop rich Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC) command area. Crop classification was performed using multi-temporal NDVI profiles of Landsat-8 imagery by distinguishing the crop cycles based on reflectance curves. The reflectance-based crop coefficients (Kc) were derived by linear regression between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) cycles of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD13Q1 and MYD13Q1 products and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defined crop coefficients. A MODIS 250 m NDVI product of the last 10 years (2004-2013) was used to identify the best performing crop cycle using Fourier filter method. The meteorological parameters including rainfall and temperature substantiated the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) calculated using the Hargreaves method. The difference of potential ET and actual ET, derived from the reflectance-based Kc calculated using reference NDVI and current NDVI, generates the water deficit. Results depict the strong correlation between ET, temperature and rainfall, as the regions having maximum temperature resulted in high ET and low rainfall and vice versa. The derived Kc values were observed to be accurate when compared with the crop calendar. Results revealed maximum water deficit at middle stage of the crops, which were observed to be particularly higher at the tail of the canal command. Moreover, results also depicted that kharif (summer) crops suffer higher deficit in comparison to rabi (winter) crops due to higher ET demand caused by higher temperature. Results of the research can be utilized for rational allocation of canal supplies and guiding farmers towards usage of alternate sources to avoid crop water stress.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address the importance of developing the skills of the labour force and the required reform of labour markets for poverty reduction. SDG 8 aims to 'promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all'. The corresponding targets aim to achieve and sustain a decent per capita economic growth and productivity in developing economies. In order to achieve this, market and competition reforms will be required to unlock creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Goal 8's focus is also on reducing youth unemployment. This is particularly important in South Asia, where one-fifth of the population are 15- to 24-year-olds; young adults continue to account for half of the unemployed; and young people are six times more likely than older workers to be jobless (World Bank, 2016). Among young people, women in particular are being left behind due to: constraints on their geographic and occupational mobility, access to education and training, and discriminatory cultural norms (Hunt and Samman, 2016). Based on this, and in light of the ongoing discourse on possible institutional arrangements for SDGs, this review paper discusses constraints to youth employment in South Asia and priority actions needed to accelerate progress on Goal 8. In particular, we focus on: youth employment, implementation and policy interventions to achieve priority actions, and the possibility of sharing regional experiences on mobilising youth. Our key policy recommendations start with an initial country-wide assessment to identify those segments of society that are left behind and that need timely intervention from a social safety net as well as youth engagement programmes. We also recommend setting up a national high-level advisory group to devise national strategies for youth employment and a monitoring framework to support policy implementation. Further, we advise: revisiting taxes and regulations that may limit youth-led start-ups and established businesses' capacity to invest in developing workforce skills; initiating a large scale seed-grant programme designed by local-level civil society organisations; and localised vocational training programmes, aimed at youth in the informal sector. Finally, sub-national governments will need to ground youth employment programmes in the overall framework of youth engagement through community service and youth advisory services. They should also use fiscal measures to encourage public secondary schools, colleges and universities to open their technical and vocational training subsidiaries for working youth. The findings of this study would help policy makers across South Asia to align national and local youth development plans, focus on long-term labour market interventions and rational spending on youth development programmes. Not only this, these findings would also be relevant to the private sector, being the largest employer of the youth, for building capacities of the employed labour force and to explore the opportunities for public-private partnerships for promoting youth employment in South Asia.
The paper aims to identify the various types of non-tariff measures (NTMs) affecting Pakistan's textile sector. The textile industry is of great importance to Pakistan and is a major contributor to its gross domestic product. However, Pakistan's textile exports are facing market access challenges, in part due to trade barriers of some developed countries. An in-depth analysis of Pakistan's textile sector and NTMs country-wise and category-wise for the period of 2010-2017 was conducted. Statistics about the textile industry of Pakistan were obtained from the State Bank of Pakistan, while categorical export data on NTMs was taken from UNCTAD's TRAINS database. Face-to-face informal interviews were also conducted with 15 participants from relevant stakeholder groups, including public and private sector officials. The authors found that Pakistan's global share in textiles has declined significantly since 2010 and that it relies heavily on a few international markets such as the United States, China and the European Union. Turkey was found to have the highest number of NTMs targeting textile products, followed by the United States. Additionally, not only do countries importing Pakistani goods impose NTMs, Pakistan's own export procedures also hamper the trade. Interviewed exporters mentioned that they face difficulties in the costly and time-consuming acquisition of certification, whereas Government officials claimed the certification process improved competitiveness. Exporters also complained about the high cost of doing business, which results in the shifting of exports to China, Bangladesh and India. The paper recommends that trade agreements and their implementation be rationalized and simplified, uniform certification requirements for exporters be implemented to save costs and time, cheaper tests be made available in Pakistan rather than abroad, and that business-to-business forums be developed to promote information exchange. It is also suggested that a clear framework to deal with NTMs is needed. The development of Pakistan's textile exports will be difficult to sustain without addressing these challenges.
Background: South Asian countries still maintained barriers to trade including regulatory restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment, non-tariff barriers and lack of banking channels. These restrictions are not only affecting the regional trade integration but also affecting the transfer of skills and technology among the member countries. Objectives: This study examines the factors that are inhibiting the development of regional integration for Pakistan in South Asia. Methods: The study conducted interviews of business community in Karachi and Peshawar regarding regional trade, investment and value chains. Result: The results pointed out that political difference with neighboring countries affect the regional integration in the form of lower trade and investment volume. Engaging in value chains is a way forward to promote trade flows and regional integration which will be beneficial for the trading partners in terms of economic growth and employment. Conclusion: Pakistan contains weak investment outlay in South Asia as currently investment agreements with only Bangladesh and Sri Lanka existed. The reasons for lower FDI inflows in Pakistan include lack of political stability, inadequate infrastructure and non-transparent government regulations. Implications: This study provides tentative picture of regional trade and investment in South Asia and the result generated can be used by concerned authorities, investors of those areas. Recommendations: Simplifications in investment laws, piracy of intellectual property, relaxing current account restriction and single channel for streamlining information regarding support, opportunities, investment and market rules and regulations can enhance the investment volume.
