OICCI calls for unified economic strategy, technocratic leadership

KARACHI: President of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) Yousaf Hussain has urged the government and national stakeholders to commit to a unified, future-ready economic execution strategy driven by planning, technocratic leadership and collaboration.

Speaking at a high-level economic forum on ‘Navigating the Unknown’, he highlighted Pakistan’s youth bulge and geo-economic positioning as strategic assets that must be harnessed through skills development, export diversification and regional trade integration.

He also stressed that the full inclusion of women and digital transformation are critical enablers of economic progress, according to an OICCI statement issued on Wednesday.

Representing over 200 leading multinational companies operating in Pakistan, Hussain called for the development of a comprehensive National Economic Execution Plan -- integrating trade, industry, fiscal, energy and human development policies -- each led by subject experts and aligned under a unified national economic framework.

“Multinational companies operating in Pakistan are not just investors -- they are centres of excellence and engines of innovation,” Hussain said. He urged the government to engage industry players in the private sector early on -- as partners -- in both planning and implementation, while simultaneously improving the ease of doing business and crafting a credible national investment narrative. “This is Pakistan’s decisive decade -- we must stop managing crises and start designing the future,” he concluded.