On Friday, 1^st August 2025, Dr Zafar ul Hasan, former Joint Chief Economist, Planning Commission of Pakistan, delivered a lecture on “Services Sector Development in Pakistan” to the participants of the 38^th Senior Management Course at the National Institute of Public Administration, Lahore.

Dr. Hasan classified the services (tertiary) sector into distributive, producer, personal, and social services, underscoring its pivotal role in modern economies. He explained the factors driving its growing share in Pakistan’s GDP; the global shift toward knowledge-based growth, longer life expectancy, changing social values, and rapid technological advancements.

Citing national statistics, he highlighted the sector’s dominant contribution to GDP, employment generation, and private investment. However, he cautioned that growth is constrained by fragmented and overlapping regulatory mandates among agencies such as the SECP, SBP, PTA, and FBR, as well as differing provincial regulations for public services.

Domestically, informality in service provision, weak oversight, and skills shortages were identified as key hurdles. Despite these constraints, Dr. Hasan underlined significant opportunities: harnessing digital transformation, expanding e-commerce, leveraging big-data analytics, and fostering cloud-based collaboration. He noted that, with targeted training, infrastructure investment, and innovation incentives, Pakistan could substantially increase its services exports and enhance competitiveness in the global market. Dr. Hasan called for an integrated national services strategy, streamlined regulation, and strengthened public-private partnerships to unlock the sector’s full potential.

The lecture concluded with a Q&A session, where participants engaged on policy priorities and practical steps to accelerate services-sector growth.