We have just celebrated March 23rd, one day reminiscent of the Pakistan vote in Lahore 85 years ago. It may sound fantastic, but not far from the ground where this resolution passed, the seeds of an industrial center sown since the 1940s. Lahore became a hub of developing industrial companies, driven by hundreds Support or access to formal credit. In this article, I share some snapshots – and my thoughts – from the acquisition of book technology in Pakistan, compiled by Ghulam Kibria and published in 1998. Kibria reveals that "… Lahore Mistris started acquiring technology in 1874 [thanks to the Railway Workshop at Mughalpura]… Ramazan and Subhan created the first technology -based foundry in 1895 by their meager savings, not by taxpayers’ money …. nor were they part of their technology acquisition [the] National Plan. It was the same way that Habibullah and his associates developed processing lines, Haji Abdul Majid [developed the] diesel [in 1920]Safi [invented the] The movie headlamp and other Mistris pioneers have developed various other technologies."
Until 1947, Pakistan had an important industrial base that China, Japan and South Korea did not have at the time of their take -off. This included rail vapor engines, charges and trolleys, hydraulic steel structures to adjust the channels, steel bridges, diesel engines, machinery, electric motors and fans, surgical organs and many more – including over 20,000. In 1948, Beco (Batala Engineering Company) was founded in Lahore, producing high quality, export tools and capital goods. When Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai visited Beco, he wanted China to have achieved similar production capabilities. China put its first order for machines from Beco to regulate its own machine tool production factory. However, in the 1970s, Beco was nationalized and renamed a Pakistani engineering company (PECO). Ironically, when the Chinese government later gave Pakistan the heavy engineer in Taxila, the tools used in its construction were manufactured in the plant itself that China had created with Pakistani aid. Pakistan’s first five -year plan, released by the Planning Committee in 1953, failed to recognize the country’s existing production capabilities. "The government was planning growth as Pakistan not had a technological capacity, while people made real development on an important technological basis inherited at the time of independence," Kibria observes. Karachi becomes a home of Karachi Private Capital, underwent a different transformation in its years of formation. Independence led to the immigration of wealthy, business Muslim families who had previously set up banks, insurance companies, shipping lines and airlines – many funded by private capital before Pakistan was created. Families such as Habibs, Adamjees and Cowasjees chose to migrate to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, then in the country’s capital. Unfortunately, many of these families were later realized by the capitalism of Ayub Khan, who stifles competition and development. The motives and licenses took advantage of companies with access to the Foundation, causing the capitalism of capitalism and the search for rental businesses. On the other hand, the private company continued to thrive in Pakistan. A private company, Kandawala Industries, started the production of cars in collaboration with General Motors in the 1950s. In 1971, under a Pakistani Army committee, the company developed a four -wheel -drive vehicle with the Nishan trademark as an alternative to US jeeps. It successfully produces 115 vehicles, with 80% local construction, including engines, half of the US counterpart. However, in 1974, the company closed abruptly when then the production minorist Ja Rahim rejected the project, writing, "How could you do it in rear yard laboratories as Nishan did?"
The state’s appetite for the assimilation of private businesses was evident as early as 1956, when Parliament passed a law to take over Orient Airways, renaming international airlines (PIA). The myth of technology carries the phrase "transfer of technology" It is often used in industrial policy discussions. However, the Pakistan technological base he inherited in 1947 was not transferred. It was largely developed automatically through tests and error by self-educated individuals. An excellent example of a state industrial program is Pakistan’s nuclear program, which developed an entire native chain. Its political applications in health, agriculture and power must be recognized and reproduced. There are many inspirational examples of people who have achieved success without state support. One such case is IMTIAZ Rastgar, whose company, founded in 1967, developed a heavy axis for commercial vehicles and now exports to more than 70 countries. In 2021, a US patent was awarded to Dr. Sarah Qureshi and her father, Masood Latif Qureshi, for their invention "Supersonic Turbofan Engine," A jet engine designed to minimize noise pollution – everything developed while working in Pakistan. However, the commercialization of their invention depends on the exceeding bureaucratic barriers and the securing risk of risk. The lesson: A new industrial policy should be discovered through co-development with industry, while minimizing protectionism. The key to prosperity lies in competition. The author is the founder and executive director of the Political Research Institute (Prime)
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