Research and development (R&D) is the main philosophy behind successful industries. From idea creation, developing product, marketing and enhancing operations, R&D plays important part in every step.

Without R&D, the industry becomes stagnant and looses its competitive advantage. That’s why it has become an important area of concern for developed countries. Although they have high cost of industrial operations and manufacturing, their industry still thrives because of the R&D culture.

Industrial R&D comprises following activities: development of new materials and products; increasing existing materials and products; development of new technologies; enhancing of the existing technologies; management and market research; industrial operations and supply chain research.

The R&D project starts with a precise description and includes enlisting resources, time, budget and milestones. After its completion, an audit is performed which evaluates the project. The outcome of a R&D project is a publication which details all the project activities, milestones and results. These publications are then used by peers (industry and academia) for critical analysis. By this a complete benefit of R&D activity is realised which, in turn, benefits the industry as a whole.

Pakistani government and its leaders have by now realised the importance of industrial R&D and the issue was on the agenda in economic policy making in last financial year and also in the current year of 2006 – 2007. Textile sector including garments and finished goods were included in the scheme and an export subsidy was given to these sub-sectors under the head of R&D subsidy.

However, for the implementation of a successful R&D process, necessary resources are required. Only one resource will not serve the purpose. Money in this case is available to companies for research through official subsidy. What about the other resources, i.e. researchers, machines, materials, previous research literature database, etc. which are important pre-requisites to start R&D activity.

As a matter of fact, no textile industrial unit would be willing to spare its machines and raw materials for R&D purpose. It is considered a huge loss to dedicate such resources for research as it decreases daily production efficiency and increases wastages. Attaining short-term goals is a top priority for managers, executives and share holders and they will not be confident to follow this line of action which requires long-term planning.

Researchers, who provide the intellectual content in the activity are few in numbers. There are hardly any managers in the industry dedicated to research and development. All of them devote their 100 per cent time to complete the core activity of the company i.e. production. Moreover, in existing textile institutes in the country, there is a huge shortage of professional researchers.

Under such circumstances, it is not clear how the government realises that the initiative for industrial R&D could be triggered through subsidising exports.

Besides, there are no details available as to how many R&D projects have been completed or are still in pipeline on the base of which the textile R&D subsidy is claimed in financial year 2005-2006 by exporters. Neither there are any details and publications on the R&D results to-date. In the absence of any R&D activity in the industry, this subsidy could only function as a normal export subsidy or industrial survival subsidy.

The way this subsidy is dragged to next financial year is also questionable. Despite of the absence of any industrial research policy, again millions of rupees are planned to disburse.

There should be a central controlling authority looking after industrial R&D and working in close partnership with research institutes. Close monitoring of R&D budget and it is spending in a proper way must be ensured. A pragmatic research is the core dogma, if applied can boost the value of textile products and industrial expansion.