He said that last year the country faced various economic challenges including a decline in exports and foreign direct investment, acute shortage of energy, lowest tax-to-GDP ratio, inefficiency of public sector entities and corruption but these challenges could be coped through meaningful partnership and dialogues between the government and the private sector.
"There are a number of issues that must be tackled on priority basis. The biggest one is how to keep the momentum of growth in the wake of less than targeted growth of the agriculture and manufacturing sector. The second one is the widening gap between exports and imports that could be contained by reducing import of luxury items. The government also will have to focus on the agriculture, manufacturing sector, education, water, human resources, minerals, public health, tax collection system and end of corruption should be focused to get rid of economic worries," he added.
He further said, "Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan as around 43 percent of the labour depended on the agriculture and the growth of the agriculture would not only ensure food security and provision of raw material to the largest export-oriented industry textile but also generating a huge revenue for the government and vast employment opportunities."
"The shortage of water is one of the biggest challenges being faced by the country. Huge land could be brought under cultivation by constructing the Kalabagh Dam. Therefore, the government should include the construction of this dam in its priorities during 2016'", he mentioned.