To survive in a highly competitive regime, product competitiveness is the right recipe to make a strong presence in global market which is possible through research and development in the industry.

The research and development could also improve existing processes and reduce cost of production. In developing countries like Pakistan, there should be a strong and powerful swing towards research and product development, Yassar Sakhi Butt, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has stated this in a statement.

He said that indigenous research was much needed for creating a strong economic progress and exploiting the full potential of available huge amount of resources to cope up with prevailing economic challenges. He was responding to the reports that Pakistan trailed behind Turkey and Iran in scientific research publication and ranked at 43rd while India ranked at 9th worldwide. He said that we should not pursue traditional strategies and should move towards research oriented economy for competing in the international market.

ICCI President underlined the need to bridge the gap between academia and industry in Pakistan and said that by focusing on research especially in science & technology would help in reducing manufacturing costs, producing better products to make industry more competitive.

Yassar Sakhi Butt said that college and university level encouragement in research and development programs in nexus with chambers would help to develop new technologies and new products.

He also emphasized that Government should also focus on increasing its exports in the agri-sector through research and developing more varieties of agriculture produce. He said Pakistan has vast areas of cultivated land but due to conventional way of farming and lack of know-how of modern technology and sowing methods, Pakistan is still unable to increase its per yield production. He said that Government should invest in agriculture research projects to get optimum results and increase exports.