Dear Szuberi, lets use some analytical reasoning to clear this out. If you care about Pakistanis, you cant have pakistanis driving cheap imported camrys. If you want to give them cheap imports you're helping the industries from where the producst are coming from and devastating pakistan.
I very well realize we do live in a global market. Me and you, but you need to analyze the wider global system to understand why manufactured goods are so expensive. i cant pull out facts and figures, only liberal economic theory.
In the west, our incomes are high, and our buying power large because of our exploitation of emerging economies. Pakistan though is on the other end of the stick. It's a provider of raw goods and we exploit it in the west.
Becase Pakistan's main exports are raw materials to the metropolitian cities, it's disarticulated from the fancy cars and modern technology everyone wants. Pakistan's at a comparative disadvantage when it trades manufactured goods for raw goods. The duties applied to cars are high to push automakers into producing cars locally with the hope local pakistani's will diversify into technology sectors.
From a governing point of view, your aim is to provide import substitutes so you dont pay foreign governments for expensive goods like cars. Instead your goal is to levy huge duties on imported goods, so that money can foster local industry. Or invite investment by offering cheap land to industries.
This tactic might resemble bribery, but it's occuring everywhere in a "global market" you're so fond of. Just recently Toyota picked woodstock ontario as it's plant. Why? The canadian government pledged 1/4 of the cost. Is that corruption? To give away land for free?
Toyota has plants all over north america. The majority of japanese cars being sold in north america are made domestically. Why? Under nafta, north americans put quota on japanese cars and huge duties once those numbers exceeded. Toyota was left no choice to establish factories within america.
The measures the pakistani government utilizies, in the form of import substitution and trade barriers are protective measures that underneath all the perceived corruption are for the benefit of Pakistan. There is ABSOLUTELY no benefit to providing imported cars at the north american prices. That'll create an inevitable debt crisis. Pakistan cant sell enough stuff to the world faster than pakistanis want to buy stuff from the world.
In my opinion, the establishment of a car market will only be a good thing for middle class pakistanis when the infrastructure can handle it. Today, only the elite and their neighbourhoods can handle such influx in cars. When leasing was introduced in pakistan, households began getting two cars on loan. What resulted was a car culture that had people driving cars everywhere. the pakistani infrastructure in karachi and lahore simply cannot sustain having so many cars on the road. what happened was huge traffic jams.
Before you reduce duties you need to be confident pakistan can survive without them. Right now, it simply cant. It's at a disadvantage and duties help the country cope. It's unfortunate the politicians of pakistan are expected to be perfect when the population itself is full of people seeking personal benefit, misuing authority, and cheating.
