Future sectors

I was going through the Pakistan Stock Exchange data a few days ago and came across just two companies in the jute sector. Many will remember that this was once a vibrant sector, before the events of 1971, and contributed tremendously to the GDP of then East Pakistan and continued to do so after it became Bangladesh. Fast forward to today’s Pakistan and we have just two companies in the business of jute on our stock exchange. Yesterday’s stars are today’s obsoletes. Therefore, we should strategise as much as we can and establish a number of companies in the modern, emerging and vibrant fields of business: mining and exploration, digital services, digital banking, e-commerce services, nano engineering, advanced medical technologies and so forth.

These would take us through the next four-to-six decades, until these companies themselves become redundant and obsolete with time. Moreover, the companies we encourage and establish should pursue joint ventures with partners in other countries so that the end-result could be a win-win situation for both.

Abbas R Siddiqi

Lahore