Despite the country’s considerable natural and human resources, the economy remains trapped in a low-growth, low-innovation model primarily driven by the export of low-value commodities like textiles, rice and raw materials. This pattern has rendered the country vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity prices, unable to generate the foreign exchange necessary to support essential imports or service its external debt. As a result, Pakistan has repeatedly resorted to short-term fixes, such as IMF loans, which provide temporary relief but offer no long-term sustainability.

To chart a sustainable path forward, Pakistan must embrace a bold structural transformation – one that shifts the economy away from low-value production and toward a knowledge-based, technology-driven model. The global economy today rewards innovation, intellectual capital and industrial complexity.

Countries that invest in high-value, high-technology manufacturing sectors, such as electronics, biotechnology, information technology, renewable energy, and precision engineering, enjoy greater export revenues, more resilient economies, and higher standards of living. Pakistan, with its strategic location, growing youth population, and partial industrial base, is well-positioned to pursue such a transformation. What is needed is a coherent and scalable framework to leverage these advantages.

A transformative solution was proposed by me in 2019, during a meeting with Dr Wang Zhigang, the Chinese minister of science and technology in Beijing – an event that coincided with the naming ceremony of a major Chinese research institute, the ‘Academician Professor Atta-ur-Rahman One Belt and One Road TCM Research Centre’ at Hunan University of Chinese Medicine in my honour. It was then that I introduced the concept of ‘QUADs’: strategic, product-oriented partnerships between Pakistani and Chinese stakeholders, designed to manufacture high-value, high-technology products for export.

The concept gained immediate attention by the Chinese government and the Chinese ministry nominated their senior representative to a joint Committee to quickly implement this brilliant proposal. Unfortunately, matters have remained frozen at our end because of lethargic government officials.

The QUAD model is built on the collaboration of four core entities: Chinese industry, Pakistani industry, a Chinese university or R&D institution, and a Pakistani university or technical institution. Each QUAD is centred on the development, manufacture, and export of a single high-value product or product category, such as electric vehicles, nanomaterials, semiconductors, biopharmaceuticals, agricultural technology or defence equipment.

The target for each QUAD is to generate a minimum of $5 billion in exports annually within five years of its establishment. By launching fifty such QUADs across Pakistan, the country could achieve over $200 billion in annual high-tech exports within a decade – a quantum leap from the current national export volume.

The strategic rationale for involving China is both compelling and pragmatic. China has emerged as the world’s leading manufacturing economy, boasting advanced expertise in a range of fields, including artificial intelligence, 5G, electric vehicles and green energy technologies. It is also looking to diversify its industrial footprint globally as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which Pakistan is a central participant.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has already laid the groundwork for infrastructure and energy cooperation; the logical next step is deep technological and industrial collaboration. Chinese firms bring with them capital, cutting-edge technologies, and access to global supply chains. At the same time, Chinese universities – many of which now rank among the world’s top research institutions – offer strong R&D capacity and innovation ecosystems.

Pakistan, for its part, offers a young and dynamic labour force, competitive wage structures and a strategic geographical location that provides access to major regional markets in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The inclusion of Pakistani universities and industries in the QUAD structure ensures that the model is not merely a case of outsourced production but a genuine platform for technology transfer, joint innovation and industrial upskilling.

Consider a QUAD focused on electric vehicles (EVs) and battery technology. A Chinese company like BYD or CATL could provide the technology and machinery; a Pakistani industrial partner, such as an auto manufacturer, could manage assembly and distribution; a leading Chinese university like Tsinghua could conduct joint research on battery chemistry and EV systems; and a Pakistani university such as NUST could offer testing, training, and innovation support. Together, they would not only produce EVs for the local market but also for export to neighbouring regions, contributing to the $5 billion export target.

To operationalise this model, the government of Pakistan would need to designate Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for each QUAD, offering attractive incentive packages including free or subsidised land, tax exemptions for the first fifteen years, duty-free imports of machinery, solar power installations to offset electricity costs and other discounted utilities. China could complement this with concessional loans, training grants, and export credit guarantees. A central coordinating authority, ideally under the Prime Minister’s Office, should be established to oversee the QUADs, fast-track approvals and coordinate with Chinese counterparts.

The potential economic impact is immense. Fifty fully operational QUADs, each contributing $5 billion annually in exports, would bring Pakistan’s total high-tech exports to over $200 billion within ten years. This would dramatically improve the current account balance, strengthen the rupee, reduce dependence on external loans and enhance national economic sovereignty. Each QUAD could also create tens of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly, particularly for engineers, scientists, technicians and skilled workers.

Of course, the successful implementation of this vision requires overcoming several obstacles. Bureaucratic inertia, policy inconsistency, weak intellectual property laws, and misalignment between academia and industry must be addressed. A robust, legally mandated governance structure is necessary to ensure policy continuity and safeguard investments.

Intellectual property regulations must be brought in line with global standards to encourage innovation and secure foreign confidence. Universities must reorient curricula toward applied research and technical training relevant to the industrial sectors represented in the QUADs. To convince the Chinese to go beyond military assistance and support Pakistan in this QUAD model would require a meeting and a formal agreement between the two countries at the highest level.

The vision I laid out during my 2019 proposal in Beijing now stands as a blueprint for national revival. If implemented with clarity, commitment, and coordination, the QUADs can generate not only $200 billion in annual exports but also the confidence, capacity and capability needed to build a truly knowledge-based economy.

The moment to act is now. The challenge is immense, but the rewards are far greater. With bold leadership, focused strategy and international cooperation, Pakistan can break free from its economic stagnation and stride confidently into the future.

---