When the Technical Advisory Cell of the ministry of industries met last week, with new Minister for Industries, Production and New Initiatives Jehangir Khan Tareen presiding , to initiate a new national industrial policy it found it easier to come up with a tally of deterrents to rapid industrialization. And it found coming up with sure-fire keys to expand industrial production more exacting and debatable.

The new national industrial policy is having serious birth-pangs. At a meeting of all heads of public sector units on May 4 last the then Industries Minister Liaquat Jatoi asked the industries secretary to formulate an industrial policy within two months; but four months after that even the skeleton of that policy is not visible.

And the minister has gone, to be succeed by Mr. Tareen and now the chief of the Experts Advisory Cell of the ministry has been commissioned by the minister to prepare a draft policy for early approval by the Prime Minister.

Mr. Tareen has been designated not only as minister for industries and production but also as "minister for new initiatives". What new initiatives is he going to come up with?

Drafting of the new industrial policy should be the concern of not only the industries ministry but also have a large input of the new ministry of Textiles headed by the minister Mushtaq Ali Cheema.

And the Minister for Investment Dr. Abdul Hafiz Shaikh and the minister of state for investment Umar Ali Ghumman should also be associated with it. In fact there should be a committee of three ministers drafting the new policy instead of loose suggestions being made from time to time and ignored, or forgotten after a while.

There should be continuity in policy and a change of minister should not mean change of basic policy in a country in which ministers and portfolios can change too often.

Mr. Jatoi had spoken of a Rs1.2 billion project launched by the government to convert all the handlooms into power-looms to increase production and add to the value-added goods for export in the highly competitive world which Pakistan will face after the expiry of the textile quota system at the end of the current year.

The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry has come up with an appeal to the government to formulate a five-year development plan to cope with the situation that will rise after the end of the quota system.

But in a market economy it will be difficult to make a success of the five-year development plan. The government can come up with its own public sector spending, particularly in the areas of infra-structure, inclusive of water and power and protection of the environment.

The centre-piece of the industrial policy is to be small and medium enterprises which can offer a large number of jobs directly and indirectly at a small cost. Hence Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has laid a great deal of emphasis on that and so have the other ministers.

SMEs not only need small capital for per head employed but also can be set up quick and start production early. That undoubtedly is the remedy for the times. The government and the banks should be able to come up with credit for SMEs at moderate rates quick and offer such investors other necessary support.

The SMEDA is also trying to promote agricultural development. It has conducted 35 agricultural development programmes in various towns and trained over 3,000 people to promote agro-based industries. That is a good start.

Japan has also given financial assistance to set up 26 training institutes in the four provinces. The various industrial training institutes of the government are also to be restructured by appointing professionals. There is a great deal to be done in this area where such institutes in large numbers have been neglected.

An industrial policy, as identified last week, has to cope with the youth explosion in the country, increasing unemployment, shortage of technical manpower, outdated tools and methodologies, and lack of modern management.

On the management side there is lack of entrepreneurship and use of the requisite volume of capital. Minister Tareen gave a great deal of importance to the implementation mechanism once a policy is formulated. He also wanted decentralisation of policies and the greater association of the provincial governments with the projects.

Mr. Jatoi, who has now become minister for water and power, had emphasized a great deal on cost reduction to capture world markets after the quota system goes. And he has asked the export industries to set up their own power production units which many not now find less costly. And now as minister for water and power he says he will ensure there is no federal tax on power, which is a very welcome move.

Newspapers say there will be a cost war in the world after 2005 begins. Of course, that is likely. China is now leading the way, followed by cost-cutting by others. Some Pakistani business men go to the extent of claiming

Pakistan would outdo China in the textile world after 2004. But the fact is that even if some our smart exporters do that ours is a small market in textiles compared to China's or of India.

In a world which will be marked for the survival of the fittest and the cheapest, price matters. And also the quality of the products. Pakistani goods have to earn a name for themselves. They have to opt for their own brand of goods marked for their price and quality, in fact their excellence.

"Pakistan suffering huge losses due to export of poor quality rice," says a headline. Such long-time evil practices have to be avoided as they do immense harm to our exports.

It is heartening that during the first two months of the new financial year ending August 30 Pakistan's exports increased by 22-23 per cent. We would keep up such exports by opting for quality and competitive prices.

Since Western capital is being shy because of the fear of terrorism, Pakistan is wooing more and more of Arab capital which is currently not too welcome in Europe or the U.S. and the Arab entrepreneurs are responding pretty well, particularly by investing more on banks and on mobile telephones.

Another industry which has come up is the gem stone polishing industry which had a chequered history in spite of the excellent stones we have. Will the new agreement for processing gems result in better earnings for the country than before.

Exporters want a cut in the cost of logistics which has a contribution of 30 per cent to the cost of exports. This aspect of the problem should be looked into by the government carefully.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has also called for a investor - friendly taxation policy. It is for his government to ensure that when he tells the investors that Pakistan is the best country to invest in and profit by.