An effective exports promotion strategy hinges on robust and competitive domestic manufacturing.
Manufacturing is competitive when it can compete with the best globally while simultaneously facing imports, particularly duty-free imports from our partners on the domestic turf.
Though our domestic supply is currently not very efficient, it is reliable, and in this trade-off between reliability and efficiency, the former should get a preference over the latter.
Such a calamity has taught us a lesson to not be excessively dependent on others for ensuring critical supplies, especially when the sources of such supplies are not fairly distributed.
If we want to retain the tag of the “Pharmacy of the World”, we have to produce formulations and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in our country.
An effective exports promotion strategy hinges on robust and competitive domestic manufacturing.
An exports strategy aimed at import substitution and export promotion, as two sides of the same coin, is ideally suited for us.
Import substitution, unlike its general perception, is not undesirable. It is not inward looking in the sense of closing your door to imports; rather it is focused on developing domestic capability and prowess to reduce your dependence on imports, particularly when disruption of supply chains can deprive you of critical inputs products.