Export competitiveness hinges on shared sustainability responsibility: Experts

Participants at a national stakeholder conference in Lahore said Pakistan's export competitiveness depends on sharing the financial and operational weight of sustainability among overseas brands, domestic manufacturers and government bodies, according to Business Recorder. The sectoral dialogue, organised by Alternate Development Services (ADS), drew industry figures and policy officials, regulators, academics and power specialists.

National Grid Company Chairman Fiaz Chaudhary argued that power-sector reforms have often missed structural problems, blaming institutional changes made without workable replacements and a loss of meritocracy. He put the share of DISCOs meeting international standards at around 70 percent, with governance problems persisting in the other 30 percent. He suggested that each company be assessed and fixed individually rather than privatising every one of them. He also called the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) an important reform that could replace the state-controlled single-buyer setup with a competitive wholesale power market.

ADS CEO Amjad Nazeer said the conference aimed to develop workable answers on textile compliance, carbon reduction, funding, buyer demands, technology and workforce skills. ADS Energy Transition Officer Ashfa Ashraf urged overseas brands to co-finance sustainability work instead of leaving the cost to producers in the Global South. Separately, LUMS Energy Institute Director Naveed Arshad put motors at close to 85 percent of factory power use and said conservation plus digitalisation could cut consumption by 20-30 percent.