Businesses need govt support to bring latest technologies

LAHORE: Business and industries need government’s support and incentives to bring latest technologies in the county to reduce a growing high-tech gap with the developed world, experts said on Monday.
They also asked the economic planners to check the import of obsolete or old technologies into Pakistan.
Saad Bin Tahir, an IT expert said developing countries are rapidly losing the competitive advantages of cheap labour as developed world after automation is now replacing workers with robots.
“Time is not far when developed countries would reclaim lost markets through robotics and automation to boost both efficiency and productivity,” he said. “The technologically rich companies will displace developing world companies enjoying the advantage of cheap labour.”
Citing the drawbacks of modern technologies,
But Almas Hyder, an innovative entrepreneur, said modern technologies have some disadvantages.
“The robotic technologies are highly capital intensive, which is a barrier for people with limited finances. Also, entrepreneurs are currently manufacturing the same products that factories produced on second industrial revolution technologies,” he said. “The most recent technologies are skill intensive and only highly qualified technical persons would benefit from it. And robotic factories crowd out unskilled and semi-skilled workers.”
Hyder said planners in Pakistan would have to adopt a strategy to facilitate high tech industrialization; prepare required technical workforce on war footing; and at the same time take measures to engage the current workers by facilitating labour intensive industries.
He said the country would have to completely shift to modern manufacturing in the next 15 years, and in the meantime, prepare a highly qualified technical workforce.
“It would be a folly on part of the planners to let the events take their own course,” he said. “The government must take all steps to facilitate innovative technologies. New production technologies have generated excitement among the entrepreneurs.”
Another IT expert Raza Arshad said the developing countries that attracted many outsourced jobs may soon see them vanishing.
The inequalities too would rise. Entrepreneurs with larger capitals would save on labour via technological innovations,” Arshad said.
“Therefore, rising inequality would suppress demand and reduce growth. “
He said in this scenario, income will be distributed from high spending lower and middle income segments to the high-tech entrepreneurs who save more.