PESHAWAR: With well over 40 per cent of the total number of industrial units established in NWFP already experiencing closure, the feeble industrial sector of the Frontier province appears to be hardly prepared to face future challenges emanating from the enforcement of World Trade Organization’s regime in 2005.

NWFP industrialists believe that due to unfavourable business environment local industry would get further hit once WTO agreement becomes effective in January 2005.

“The country in general is not ready to brace the future challenges, what to talk about the preparedness of the NWFP’s limping industrial sector,” said Jamshed Sawal, former president of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

However, he believed that the province did not involve such manufacturing units which were at more risk than others once WTO’s regime got effective.

“Pakistan’s textile sector would be the worst hit, though huge investment has been made during the recent past on Balancing, Modernization and Revamping (BMR) by the textile sector to face the WTO challenges, still it would remain to be seen how much they would be successful to compete in the open market competition,” said Sawal.

Much of the precious time, said an other industrialist on request of anonymity, had been lost on the part of the federal government to help the country’s private sector in getting ready for the 2005.

“We have not been able to face the challenge at the hands of Chinese products, how would we be able to respond once multinational companies find easy access to our markets”.

Sawal believed that balance between the rate of import duty on the raw material and their finished products should be in the favour of the former to facilitate the local manufacturing sector if Islamabad wanted to help local industry to get ready for the impending challenge.

Importers believed that with the enforcement of WTO agreement the Karkhano markets of Peshawar — once the country’s largest shopping centres of smuggled goods — would retrieve their lost glory.

“Once the zero-tariff regime gets introduced under the WTO, foreign products of all types would flood local markets,” said Ibrahim Shinwari, a leading importer of Peshawar who deals in glass and plastic wares.

He said that the Karkhano market would once again become the hub of trade activities following the introduction of zero-tariff regime.

“Foreign products are liked and preferred by every customer,” said Mr Shinwari, adding that the Karkhano markets would not be at any threat at the hands of WTO rejecting commonly supported arguments that these markets would eventually become redundant following the introduction of zero-tariff regime.

Shinwari, who has his business outlets in Lahore and Karachi ever since he switched over to legal import and export business years ago, claimed that transportation of non-duty paid products from Afghanistan had become so risky and costly affair that very few traders were pursuing the smuggled goods’ business and large number of them had started doing business through legal channels.

“Except for electronic [used and new] items and fabrics there are no other smuggled goods being sold in the local market, hence, the Karkhano market is bound to get alive once zero tariff regime gets effective,” concluded Shinwari.