By Ayesha Mudassar ISLAMABAD, May 30 (INP-WealthPk): Seasonal production, shortage of skilled staff, inadequate technology upgradation, and limited availability of viable credit are the major reasons for lack of competitiveness in the engineering industry, said Secretary General of Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturing Association (PEFMA) Ihsan Mujtaba while talking to WealthPK. According to Ihsan Mujtaba, identifying irregular and inefficient production processes, imposing a standardization requirement, and adopting the emerging trends were all necessary to improve the sector's competitive ability. Tanveer Autos told WealthPK that the prices of transport equipment have increased dramatically due to the ongoing inflation rate and unstable dollar position in the market. According to industry experts, promoting the local engineering sector involves a focus on the existing sub-sectors, assistance in lowering costs of doing business, upgrading technology, as well as protecting them against imports and connecting them to the global production systems. Experts also stressed the importance of diversifying Pakistan's industrial base beyond textiles, leather, cement, and fertilizer to include engineering and electronics. During the first 10 months of the fiscal year 2021-22, export of engineering goods from Pakistan witnessed an increase of only 5.07% compared to the corresponding period of the last year. Export of Engineering Goods during July-April 2021-22 stood at $190.59 million against $181.38 million during the same months of the fiscal year 2020-21. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the engineering goods’ export increased by 27.8 percent during April 2022 compared to the same month of the last year. During April 2022, exports reached $22.53 million against $17.63 million in April 2021. On a month-on-month basis, export of engineering goods increased by 12.95% in April 2022 compared with $19.95 million in March 2022, the data revealed. Among the engineering goods, exports of electric fans, transport equipment, and other electric machinery reduced by 2.34, 20.68, and 17.77 percent respectively during the 10 months of the current fiscal year (10MFY22) against the corresponding period of the previous year. The sector has the largest and most cross-sectoral linkages, contributes around 4.8% to total exports, and employs around 3 million people. By addressing challenges, developing clear policies to support technology upgradation, and increasing productive manufacturing, Pakistan's engineering sector could attain a significant place in the export of engineering goods in the following years.