We need government to play its part

Organizational productivity often depends on government creating a potential for high productivity by building the appropriate underpinning infrastructure. In Pakistan, this has been shown recently with claims from the government (articulated by the Prime minister Shaukat Aziz) that the productivity and competitiveness of products from Pakistan has been improved at the domestic and international level as a result of improvements to the transport/supply chain infrastructure.

The Prime Minister suggested that, under the National Trade Corridor (NTC) plan, steps have been taken to improve all aspects of the logistics chain. Railways are being modernized and highways and roads are under construction. This has been supported with simplification of the customs’ procedures and processes at ports, airports and borders to significantly reduce clearance times.

Now, of course, having built the infrastructure the government needs to 'back away' and let industry and commerce play their part. This is a tricky balancing act for many government - facilitating but not controlling.