This refers to the letter, ‘More than a highway’ (Jan 21), by Rehana Rafique. The writer has rightly highlighted that the suggestions made by Dr Atta-ur-Rahman – establishing of industrial clusters along the corridor and offering tax holiday – should be seriously considered by the government. The country is blessed with a treasure of crude ores. Instead of exporting them in their raw form, the country should add value to them. For example, in Karachi, empty mineral water bottles are collected from various localities and are washed using pressurised water. After washing, the bottles are shredded into thin pieces using a machine installed for the purpose. The shreds are then packed in bags and exported to China. In China, further shredding and refinement is carried out to obtain the final product – polyester. This polyester is then used in the textile sector.
This means that when value is added to a raw product – in this case, empty mineral water bottles – its selling cost increases. This is why Dr Atta-ur-Rahman suggested the establishment of manufacturing hubs along the CPEC route to manufacture high-value items. If the government implements these two suggestions, the benefits will be colossal.
Air-Cdre (r) Azfar A Khan
Karachi
