Publication: Pakistan - Strategic Environmental, Poverty and Social Assessment of Trade and Transport Sector Reforms
Date
2012-12
ISSN
Published
2012-12
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The Government of Pakistan's
(GoP's) 2011 framework for economic growth seeks to
place Pakistan on a sustained high economic growth path of 7
percent per year through measures to reduce the cost of
doing business, improve the investment climate, and
strengthen institutions. Trade and transport reforms are
central to achieve the Framework's goal. The transport
sector constitutes 10 percent of Pakistan's Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and provides 6 percent of the
employment in the country. The sector plays an important
role in linking other sectors in the economy, contributes to
both domestic and international trade, and helps facilitate
the spatial transformation occurring in Pakistan. However,
present patterns in transport and trade logistics generate
inefficiencies that are costing Pakistan's economy
roughly 4-6 percent of GDP per year, which is a major
constraint to the aspirations set out in the Framework. This
analytical work on Strategic Environmental, Poverty, and
Social Assessment (SEPSA) of trade and transport sector
reforms examines poverty, social and environmental aspects
associated with reforms that would increase the freight
transport sector's productivity to meet the framework
goals. it focused on the following areas: (i) SEPSA's
methodology and aims; (ii) description of key challenges in
Pakistan's freight transport sectors, including the
road, trucking, railway, port, and aviation sectors, as well
as trade and transport interventions and reforms proposed by
the GoP and other stakeholders; (iii) identification of
stakeholders, particularly the most vulnerable groups that
could be affected by reforms aimed at increasing freight
transport productivity, and analyzing the priority poverty
issues associated with freight transport in Pakistan; (iv)
identification jointly with stakeholders of priority social
and environmental issues associated with freight transport,
and analyzing such issues; (iv) examination of potential
freight transportation social and environmental policy
options for enhancing positive effects or reducing adverse
effects associated with increases in freight transport
productivity; and (v) identification of options to
strengthen governance and the institutional capacity of
agencies to manage the environmental, social and poverty
priorities associated with Pakistan's freight transportation.
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Pakistan - Strategic Environmental, Poverty and Social Assessment of Trade and Transport Sector Reforms. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/e405ac85-04d9-59ff-b748-04f18418636b License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”