The National Center for Sustainable Growth at KSBL serves as a research arm working at the crossroad of R&D and public policy advocacy critical to stakeholders across public and private sector, with focus on Economic Growth & Circular Economy.
This center aims to make theoretical and scientific contributions to improve the managerial practices and the performance of companies, governments, and non-profit organizations through advocacy of its research output.
Pakistan is a lower middle-income country in South Asia. One of the grave concern is its premature de-industrialization; as manufacturing value added has declined from 19% in 2005 to 11.8% in 2020. A nation endowed with plenty of natural resources and 53% young population can’t sustain itself if it is not growing to its full potential. To achieve demographic dividend and sustainable poverty reduction, a structural transformation is required.
Globally, two megatrends are creating windows of opportunity for Pakistan. Firstly, industrial comparative advantages are shifting globally. Labor wages have been rapidly increasing in China. With 85 million light manufacturing jobs, China’s upgrading to higher industries will leave space for many low income developing countries to enter a labor-intensive industrialization development phase. If Indonesia, Vietnam, and other large middle-income countries (MICs) continue their current pace of growth, a similar pattern will arise. Based on global experiences since WWII, any country which captures the window of opportunity of the global relocation of light manufacturing will grow dynamically for several decades and become a middle- or even high-income economy within one or two generations. Secondly, China’s “One Belt and One Road” (OBOR) will create massive opportunities for to collaborate on developing infrastructure and productive capacity. China announced its OBOR Initiative in 2013 to increase China’s ‘connectivity’ with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. It is the central pillar of China’s foreign policy. As the flagship of the OBOR initiative, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) confers a variety of benefits to Pakistan as well as boosting Pakistan’s internal and external connectivity. Together, China and Pakistan can build their ‘all weather – time tested’ friendship into a force for regional stability and economic growth.
Therefore, a homegrown Economic Growth Facilitation Framework, to harness the potential of aforementioned megatrends, is required to be carved out through engaging all the stakeholders, e.g. Federal and Provincial Governments, Private Sector, National Security Agencies and Political Parties. This agenda could serve as a minimum common denominator for nation building and instill national cohesion. Core Functions of the Center Research & Policy Advocacy Strategic Review of National Economic Policies Watchdog on Business Government Relations Strategy Consulting Key Areas for Research:
With the aim of becoming the premier center on the circular economy in Pakistan, we will provide evidence-based input for public policy. Focus areas are Circular Plastics; Thriving, livable, Resilient & Circular Cities, Biodiversity, Circular Economy for Food, and Circular Fashion. Furthermore, the center will: