Moaaz Manzoor

The National Productivity Organization (NPO) has helped local industries gain productivity-related value addition of Rs11.18 billion over the past four years, using a total public grant of Rs374 million.

According to documents available with Wealth Pakistan, the agency, operating under the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP), has expanded its engagement in regional productivity programs in recent years. It has worked with leading companies, including Sapphire, Crescent Bahuman, Kamal Textile, US Apparel, Pepsi, and Serena Hotels, to lower production costs and improve efficiency across manufacturing and services.

Between 2020 and 2025, NPO carried out 396 energy and resource audits in sectors such as textiles, auto parts, leather, surgical goods, and sports manufacturing. It organized 489 national productivity training programs and hosted 21 multi-country sessions under the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), where Pakistan ranked first among 21 member nations in accessing international services.

The NPO’s own revenues have also risen sharply from Rs2.13 million in FY2020 to Rs71.29 million in FY2023–24, as more firms sought advisory services focused on cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Despite these improvements, Pakistan continues to face a major productivity gap with regional peers. Labour productivity in Pakistan stands at $17,634 per worker per year, compared with $85,335 in Malaysia and $90,735 in South Korea. High production costs remain a key barrier to export growth, economists say.

The document reveals that countries such as Korea and Thailand had productivity levels similar to Pakistan’s in the 1970s but advanced rapidly by investing in technology and institutional reforms. To address structural weaknesses, NPO partnered with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) to develop the National Productivity Master Plan (NPMP), which the Planning Commission has integrated into Pakistan’s Special Economic Framework. The plan seeks to establish a national productivity measurement system, promote technological standardization, and introduce productivity-linked incentives for industries.

NPO’s next business plan, covering 2025–28, aligns with the NPMP and focuses on technology adoption, process optimization, and a nationwide productivity awareness drive. As Pakistan faces high production costs and weak export growth, the organization’s expanding role and measurable outputs have drawn attention in policy circles. Officials say improved productivity could help industries regain competitiveness and reduce dependence on subsidies or currency adjustments to stay viable in global markets.

Credit: INP-WealthPk