MATERIALS INDUSTRY: ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

Pakistan has not been able to utilize its precious mineral wealth for its economic growth and development, despite having comparatively strong mineral base. The development of material industry is critical and can play a vital role in the economic growth and competitiveness of a country. This demands focused efforts to improve and develop new materials and put to proper use the existing ones. Industry especially materials industry faces a plethora of challenges to its development. This presentation covers various economic and environmental issues at policy, strategic, technical, operational, research and academic level that are hampering the development of material industry. An attempt has been made to highlight issues in major material industries e.g. ceramic, plastic, marble, steel, cement, glass, pharmaceutical etc. the issues will be analyzed in global and local perspectives using different ranking indices manifesting the slow and low development of materials industry. Information like contribution to GDP, employment generation, export potential, in addition to touching the status of the industry from knowledge utilization point of view. The relevant discussion is based on literature review, personal experiences and interaction with industrialists, government officials, and environmentalists and above all the drive from the Pakistan materials society. Keeping in view the current global economic recession, this study is an attempt to create awareness about the crucial role that materials industry can play in economic revival of the war on terror torn society of KPK in particular and Pakistan in general.