ISLAMABAD: Pakistan aims to raise exports to more than $100 billion by 2035 while accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles to reduce its dependence on imported oil after the renewed Iran-United States conflict exposed the country’s vulnerability to global energy shocks, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Saturday.
Pakistan has emerged from a prolonged economic crisis after securing a $7 billion International Monetary Fund bailout and stabilizing key economic indicators, but the government says the next phase of its economic strategy will focus on expanding the country’s exports.
Speaking at the EVS World and Electricity Pakistan Expo in Lahore, Iqbal outlined what he described as a broader strategy to strengthen Pakistan’s economic sovereignty through export-led growth, reduced dollar-denominated imports and a shift away from imported fuels toward domestically generated electricity in the transport sector.
“Nine million Pakistanis living abroad earn $40 billion in foreign exchange and send it home in the form of remittances,” he said in a televised address while visiting the expo. “Meanwhile, the 250 million Pakistanis living inside the country also generate only $40 billion through exports. This is a huge imbalance.”
The minister said Pakistan should have the capacity to raise its exports to more than $400 billion. He noted that Vietnam’s exports stood at $2.5 billion in 1990 before rising to $450 billion, while Pakistan’s exports had increased from only $6 billion to $40 billion over the same period.
“Pakistan’s economy will become impregnable only when every businessman becomes an exporter,” he added. “The next national target is to achieve exports exceeding $100 billion by 2035, and everyone must work day and night to realize this goal.”
Iqbal urged faster adoption of electric vehicles, adding that renewed hostilities between Iran and the United States had once again highlighted Pakistan’s vulnerability to global oil price shocks after disrupting a fragile peace process.
“It is imperative that we rapidly introduce EVs into our transport sector and transition two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers to electric vehicles as quickly as possible,” he said.
Iqbal added nearly 80 percent of Pakistan’s fuel consumption came from the transport sector, making imported petroleum a major drain on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
