On Friday, November 8, 2024, Dr. Kaiser Bengali, Former Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh for Planning & Development and Consultant for Economic Affairs, delivered a talk to the participants of 36^th SMC on “Services Sector Development in Pakistan”. It was an insightful talk Dr. Bengali pointed out that Pakistan has now emerged as a services based economy with sectors that include banking, telephone, sales, education, and medical facilities. Dr. Bengali focused on a growing sector of IT services followed by the e-commerce industry making a point about digital transformation disrupting traditional industries. He also listed some of the barriers, which are insufficient skilled human resource, poorly developed physical facilities, and fluctuating economic environment that negatively impacted on the development of the sector. Thus, he pointed out the need to address these issues with a view to develop the potential of the services industry.

Speaking about the growth prospects, Dr. Bengali highlighted the critical importance of the legal basis for social, civic, and IT services. He said that the elimination of inefficiencies, better government, and spot-on policies could help unlock innovation and investment. In order to enhance the role of services in Pakistani economy, Dr. Bengali recommended benchmarking appropriate examples from within the South Asian region like the Indian IT service export model. He went on to say that such experiences must be understood so that Pakistan can improve local capabilities, increase its competitiveness around the world, and ensure that the services sector of the country grows in the long run.