I remember reading in a high school Geography textbook – that Dubai had capitalized on Karachi’s favorable geographic position as a potential regional commerce hub (This was a Pakistani textbook – so do take this with a tinge of salt) Whilst Dubai certainly has capitalized on the commercial opportunity, Pakistan has a huge opportunity in terms of facilitating its own sprawling population. So I ask – what do industrializing emerging markets require? Energy.
What do 245m people uniformly require? Energy.
Currently, Pakistan has a energy shortfall of at least 25%. Why don’t they import it if they don’t have it? The answer is whilst they do import it, doing so to the extent required to fulfill this requirement would put short term pressures on foreign exchange reserves due to energy imports.
So how is that an opportunity?
Pakistan has wind corridors ideal for wind farming across the Makran Coastal Highway
So if the Coal powered Energy plants are too taxing on foreign reserves, why not leverage Green technology such as Green Ammonia Plants to generate Energy? Why not have Solar Power these plants for efficiency? Why not convert the Thar Desert with some of the highest retention for Solar Farms to power these Green Ammonia plants? Why not use these to Export Carbon Credits? Such opportunities generate not just foreign reserves but address local demand without the related financial challenges with of its alternatives.
With a dwindling local supply and a burgeoning energy demand – it stands to imagine that Pakistan would need Infrastructure to manage its energy requirements. Infrastructure development requirements such as LNG Terminals.
These Energy requirements leaves a gap which as addressed will create employment and development opportunities in long term stable ventures. During such periods, ancillary businesses piggy backing from the growth in these sectors will be viable opportunities for secure growth.
