Pakistan has immense potential and has been included within the ‘next eleven’ economies of the world.

However, its industry is in a pitiful state.

Today, Pakistan can only list textiles, leather and sports goods, surgical instruments and other simple goods as its main exports, along with agricultural produce such as rice, cotton and mangos.

The so-called growth of the 1960’s and 70’s was of basic and simple industry, without laying the basis for heavy industry.

Pakistan’s military and democratic rulers have never really developed its industry.

Instead, foreign ownership of industry has surged as reflected in Foreign Direct Investment figures.

Pakistan’s industry has also been undermined by the free trade agreement with China which has flooded Pakistan with cheap goods, destroying local industry such as textile manufacturing.

CPEC will further allow China to secure Pakistan as its own backyard market to dump cheap goods due to its industrial overcapacity.

Pakistan’s rulers facilitate foreign corporations, whilst obstructing local companies via high taxes, costs, red tape and corruption.

This situation has been further compounded by the severe electricity and gas shortages that plague Pakistan today and have crippled industrial units, making tens of thousands jobless.

So, it is not surprising thousands of industrial units have been written off and local industrial production, on the whole, is at an all-time low.

Pakistan’s democratic rulers have no coherent policies to create real economic growth and distribute wealth amongst the people.

This is because democracy will never allow Pakistan to achieve its potential because it is through this corrupt system that Western colonial policies are implemented.

Intent on exploiting the world’s resources, colonial powers want to keep Pakistan as a state with poor industry.

Colonialist policies have been implemented since the time of the East India Company and are still implemented through democracy to this day.

Thus making easy work for the colonial policies of the IMF and World Bank.

The Khilafah will strive to become the leading state – unmatched by any rival – just as it was previously.

Its industry will have a military focus, which will lead to the rapid development of a heavy industrial base…

…whilst the development of military equipment will meet the growing demand of the armed forces.

The Khilafah will fund industrial development by restoring public properties to public ownership, and by undertaking agricultural land reforms to generate both agricultural produce and revenues.

It will ensure strong state ownership of essential industries, as well as implementing other shariah rules regarding revenues such as Zakah, Kharaaj and Ushr taxes.

The Khilafah will also protect its industry by not allowing predatory foreign powers access to our market whilst hypocritically protecting their own.

The Khilafah will also fund and develop advanced centres of learning and research excellence as part of its industrial drive.

Education will be a priority to develop the vast untapped human talent in Pakistan that is currently forced to seek opportunities abroad.

The Khilafah will also ensure its industry is linked to university research as to the state’s requirements for engineers, scientists, technicians and so on.

This, in a short time, will help generate real wealth within the state – alongside turning it into a technological and manufacturing giant.

This ensures the Khilafah will become a leading state with its industry and research leading the world, facilitating its foreign policy and ushering in a truly new era of development.