As he elaborated on the strategic shift, it is aimed at ensuring optimum capacity utilisation, with a view to overcoming budgetary constraints for defence production.
That would bring to the fore the underlying idea of increasing earnings to supplement the defence budget.
The POF has to pay for itself and hopefully meet other defence needs, in view of the likelihood of the defence budget being subjected to freezing or drastic cut.
While POF is fully geared to supply arms and ammunitions to the armed forces according to their requirements, the effort in this direction would call for increasing value addition through reverse engineering, which will naturally necessitate more investment.
Again, the emphasis on achieving substantial increase in its earnings is fully justified by the visible declining trend in its exports from the highest level of $40 million touched three years back, mainly from supplies to Sri Lanka, which have unexpectedly fallen sharply.
It will be noted that POF's major exports comprise arms and ammunitions, including tanks and artillery, the sale of which is getting increasingly difficult in recent years, mainly because of the world market remaining depressed and nearly monopolised by some developed countries.
As for arms and ammunitions exports to the Gulf countries, these too have dwindled for understandable reasons, the POF chief rightly pointing to the changing political situation in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Mention, in this regard, may also be made of the setback to plans for defence collaboration with the Nato countries, progress in that direction having remained confined to contacts with individual countries.
As for the Turkish market, collaboration has been hampered by similarity in the products turned out by both the countries.
Viewed in this perspective, the move for shift in POF's production strategy can hardly be called in question.
POF has already built the spare terminal capacity for use in producing commercial goods, such as oxygen and gas cylinders.
Although there has been no indication of the government's intention to freeze or reduce the defence budget, the proposed strategy is the response to the general view that defence budget should not go beyond a certain limit.
As for the potential and trade prospects of the country's defence industry, it may be worthwhile to recall the efforts made by POF in recent years towards diversification of its products.
Notable in this context is also a spirited campaign launched by the former POF chairman, who went about selling the idea of associating the private enterprise with the defence production.
He visited the various chambers of commerce and industry, explaining to their members the viability of public-private collaboration.
Mention, in this regard, may also be made of the relevant observations of President General Pervez Musharraf, in his inaugural address to the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS-2002).
He urged the private sector to extend its full co-operation to the public sector with a view to boosting the export industry in accordance with its potential.
Recalling that it was with this end in view that IDEAS-2000 was organised, he dwelt upon the prospects of opening new avenues for further development it had unfolded for increasing export of defence products.
However, now that the entire perspective has undergone a change, with the POF emphasis shifting away from arms and ammunitions and on to the consumer goods and requirements of industry, the idea of collaboration may have an added appeal to the business community.
But its reluctance to go headlong in this direction cannot be ruled out either. And the reason for this may not be too far to seek.
For one thing, the new line of production conceived by POF may be viewed by the private sector as the domain it intends entering.
Now, coming at a time when the public sector entities are being actively handed over to the private enterprise, it may strike them as a contradiction.
Under the circumstances, it will be in the fitness of things, perhaps, to mark the POF's additional capacity for non-defence products for sale to the private sector in accordance with the thrust of privatisation.