President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman of the National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman of the FPCCI Policy Advisory Board, and former Provincial IT Minister, Mian Zahid Hussain, has welcomed the government’s decision to operationalise the National Centre for Brand Development (NCBD), terming it a positive step towards increasing Pakistan’s exports. He said the centre was announced in April 2025, and the Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry, operationalised it at a roundtable conference on October 6, 2026. However, Mian Zahid Hussain said building a successful national brand requires technology-driven value addition, reliable supply chains, and business costs that enable domestic producers to compete with international brands while withstanding shocks from global conflicts and the energy crisis.
Mian Zahid Hussain said Pakistan produces world-class textiles, surgical instruments and sports goods, but exports of unbranded products and raw materials compel the country to sell at lower prices. The “Made in Pakistan” label cannot thrive on marketing alone; it must be backed by resilient supply chains, technological expertise and consistent quality assurance. He noted that Vietnam’s exports stood at $475 billion, while Pakistan’s exports remained at $32 billion. He said this substantial gap cannot be filled by branding alone. Vietnam transformed its economy by investing in research-driven innovation, packaging and new designs, while establishing itself as a reliable partner in global supply chains through consistent policies.
Mian Zahid Hussain said high-tech products account for more than 42 percent of Vietnam’s manufactured exports, with an annual value exceeding $130 billion. Pakistan, by contrast, remains heavily dependent on traditional goods with a meager value addition, while its IT and technology services exports stand at only $4.6 billion. He said a premium global brand cannot be built on outdated products and raw materials alone. The NCBD should focus on positioning Pakistan as a trusted centre for technology-based manufacturing, AI-based contemporary IT services, and high-tech research and development. He added that international buyers demand compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards alongside product quality. Meeting the relevant international obligations is also essential to retaining preferential market access under arrangements such as the European Union’s GSP+ scheme.
Mian Zahid Hussain said the recent increase in manufacturing costs was not solely due to domestic shortcomings. It also reflected a global crisis intensified by the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States, Saudi Arabia-Houthis, and the earlier Russia-Ukraine war, which had severely disrupted energy markets and supply chains. Despite these unavoidable geopolitical shocks, domestic industries continued to bear additional costs from Pakistan’s structural weaknesses, including capacity payments to independent power producers, a complex, multilayered tax system, extended dwell times at ports, slow bureaucracy, and numerous provincial government hurdles. These pressures leave businesses with insufficient working capital and limited capacity for research and development and technology adoption, and they struggle to meet the compliance criteria needed to build internationally competitive brands.
Mian Zahid Hussain urged the government to align the NCBD’s strategy with practical policy instruments, including the Strategic Trade Policy Framework. He also called for collaboration with the FPCCI to give the ongoing URAAN Pakistan initiative a statutory framework that would ensure zero-rating for export sectors and an expedited refund mechanism. He said the business community fully supported the Ministry of Planning’s vision of making culture, exports, governance and tourism pillars of Pakistan’s soft power. However, turning the “Made in Pakistan” label into a recognised global symbol of quality requires long-term policy continuity, a stronger transition from traditional manufacturing towards high-tech exports, and effective measures to protect industry from domestic inefficiencies so that it can withstand prevailing global pressures.
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