Transports and Logistics (Policy)

KEY MESSAGES

• The estimated potential of Pakistan’s logistics sector is USD 30.7 billion but it has not been realised as yet. Where is it today?
• akistan is nowhere in the global scenario according to the recent Logistics Performance Index prepared by the World Bank 2023.
• The modal shares are highly skewed towards roads accounting for more than 92 percent of passengers and 96 percent of freight. On average this should be 60 percent.
• he motorways and highways constitute less than 10 percent of the total road network but carry almost the entire freight traffic.
• he inadequacy and inefficiency of the public transport system in Islamabad bring more private vehicles on the roads.
• Heavy losses in the railway sector have necessitated an increase in grants from PKR 45 billion in 2022-23 to PKR 55 in 2023-24. Per-passenger grants amount to PKR 1,261 and PKR 5,556 per ton for freight in 2021-22.
• Pakistan Railways has so far failed to adopt the open access policy approved in 2011, which reflects bureaucratic hurdles and governance failures.
• PIDE survey reveals that freight forwarders do not use Pakistan Railways because of the non-availability of relevant information, but mainly because of the nonreliability of the services.
• Pakistan Post has 10,293 post offices in Pakistan, of which 87 percent are incurring losses, while TCS has a market share of 43 percent with less than 10 percent of branches than Pakistan Post.
• The labour unions in public sector organisations have played a major role in resisting reforms, ensuring inefficiencies and substantial losses to the exchequer.