Import

 An import is a good brought into a

jurisdiction, especially across a national
border, from an external source.
 The party bringing in the good is called an
importer. An import in the receiving country
is an export from the sending country.
 Cont…

 Both export and import are main activities

of national trade. If export increases import
than we have trade surplus, if opposite,
than we have trade deficit.
 Both exports and imports are essential for
the development of any country as no nation
is self sufficient.
 Cont…

 Imports are important for businesses and

individual consumers.
 The common reason for importing goods is
to meet demand on goods, which cannot be
produced domestically at an affordable
price or at all.
 Cont…

o The first occurs, when domestic technology,

know how or resources are obsolete or
expensive.
o The second occurs, when the given product
or service is not possible to produce
domestically because of lack skills,
resources or technology.
Sadia Manzoor
 Name and ranking of imports in Pakistan

Pakistan imports

Imports in Pakistan increased to 524669 PKR Million in March from

462764 PKR Million in February of 2017. Imports in Pakistan averaged
69582.86 PKR Million from 1957 until 2017, reaching an all time high of
524669 PKR Million in March of 2017 and a record low of 96 PKR
Million in April of 1959.
 Main imports with ranking in Pakistan

Name Ranking
•Mineral fuels 16%
•Manufactured goods 16%
•Miscellencious article 12%
•Beverage and tobacco 12%
•Animal and vegetables 10%
•Oils and fats 12%
•Crude materials except fuel 9%
•Chemicals 9%
•Machinery 8%
•Food and live animals 7%
 Main important partners of imports

•China (19.7 % of imports)

•United Arab Emirates(12.1% of imports)
•Saudia Arabia (12% of imports)
•United states(3.2% of imports)
•Kuwait(6.3% of imports)
•Iran(3.4% of imports)
•India(3.7% of imports)
•Japan(3.6% of imports)
•Afghanistan(0.3% of imports)
•Malaysia (9% of imports)
Usama Sajjad Qureshi
 Role of imports in Pakistan

 Role of foreign trade in economic development

The role of foreign trade can be judged by the following faces :
•Foreign trade and economic development:
Foreign trade plays very important role in the economic
development of any country. Pakistan also exports a lot of
agricultural product to other countries and imports the capital
goods from other countries. Therefore, it is not wrong to say
that economic development of a country depends of foreign
trade

Foreign exchange earnings:

Foreign trade provides foreign exchange which can be used
to remove the poverty and other productive purposes.
 Cont…

•Market expansion:
The demand factor plays very important role in
increasing the production of any country. The foreign
trade expands the market and encourages the
producers. In Pakistan home market is very limited
due to poverty. So it is necessary chat we should sell
our product in other countr
•Increase in investment:
Foreign trade encourages the investor to increase the
investment to produce more goods. So the rate of
investment increases.
 Cont…

•Foreign investment:
Besides the local investment, foreign trade provides incentives
for the foreign investors to invest in those countries where
there is a shortage of investment.
•Increase in national income:
Foreign trade increases the scale of production and national
income of the country. To meet the foreign demand we
increase the production on large scale so GNP also increases.

•Decrease in unemployment:
With the rise in the demand of goods domestic resources are
fully utilized and it increases the rate of development in the
country and reduces the unemployment in the world.
 Cont…

•Increase in investment:
Foreign trade encourages the investor to increase the investment to
produce more goods. So the rate of investment increases.

•Foreign investment:
Besides the local investment, foreign trade provides incentives for the
foreign investors to invest in those countries where there is a shortage of
investment.
•Increase in national income:
Foreign trade increases the scale of production and national income of the
country. To meet the foreign demand we increase the production on large
scale so GNP also increases.

•Decrease in unemployment:
With the rise in the demand of goods domestic resources are fully utilized
and it increases the rate of development in the country and reduces the
unemployment in the world
 Cont…

•Agricultural development:
Agricultural development is the back bone in our economy. Foreign
trade has played very important role for the development of our
agriculture sector. Every year we export rice, cotton, fruits and
vegetables to other countries. The export of goods makes our farmer
more prosperous. It inspires the spirit of development in them.

•Import of consumer goods:

India and Pakistan imports the various consumer goods from other
countries, which are not produced inside the country. Today the
shortage of any commodity can be removed through international
trade.

•To improve quality of local products:

Foreign trade helps to improve quality of local products and extends
market through changes in demand and supply as foreign trade can
create competition with the rest of the world.
Mohsin Akram
 Merits of Import

 Importing raw materials and goods is one of

the paths of increasing the profit margins.
There are number of benefits in importing the
goods,
Two major benefits are:
 High quality
 Low prices
 Cont…

 High Quality and Low prices

An importer can have the comparative advantage
which means lower prices. Also the importer can
have the much cheaper products from the foreign
market due to low labor cost, low taxes etc. in terms
of quality, the importer can have the higher quality
goods and produce the finished goods with high
quality and extend the business profit margins. In
some countries, government provides the support to
the importer for developing the trade relations.
 Some other benefits are as follows:

 Cheaper Stuff:
This one is the easiest argument to grasp. If we could buy
something cheaper locally we would, so if something is
imported it will be cheaper than what we could produce.
The exception is if a foreign government subsidizes their
imports to us.

 Increased Specialization:
By importing some goods and services, a county’s
economy can stop producing these, and instead focus on
producing other goods and services that they are really
good at producing. By importing goods that require cheap
manual labor as input, the country is able to dedicate more
of its economy towards industrie
 Cont…

Access to Goods/Service that a Country Cannot

(or does not want to) Produce:
Lots of things can only be made in certain parts of
the world. Rare earth elements can be imported by
other countries. Tesla is building the worlds largest
factory to manufacture lithium batteries in the US.
So the countries with low rare earth elements can
import the goods from others.
 Cont…

 Many governments actively support trade relations and

aim to make importing easy for your business.
In many developing countries, governments encourage
importing by helping local suppliers do business with offshore
importer. Depending on the country you are importing from,
there may be a government agency available to assist you with
any inquiries you might have and make the transaction easier
for all parties involved. With official agency oversight, the
risks involved in the transaction can be significantly reduced,
providing you with peace of mind throughout the process.
Yasir Ali
 Demerits of Import

Foreign goods are substituting the domestic

goods' markets ， so the domestic industries
are eliminated.
 Cont…

 Currency Devaluation
 There are many governments and economists who
believe that the importing goods have numerous
disadvantages Trade deficit will cause the currency
devaluation, inflation.
 Cont…

 Cause of Inflation
Due to import inflation rate increase.
The importing of important industries will
lose the influence by importing country.
 Cont…

 Erosion of domestic Markets & Loss Of

Job
importing of goods could lead the erosion of
the domestic markets and national
economies specifically when there is trade
deficit occurrence i.e. the import is higher
than the export.
 Cont…

Some of the goods like cars; appliances lead

a higher level of domestic automobile and
electronic markets and also loss of jobs in the
respective markets
 Cont…

 Loss of foreign exchange

Foreign exchange loss to country by
importing goods
 Cont…

 Unemployment
Import will discourage local manufacturing
and inflation may cause unemployment may
increase
Muhammad Adeel
Causes of high imports and low exports

 Lack of Finance Facility

 Increasing Cost of Production:
 Political instability and internal issues of
Pakistan
 Energy Crisis
 Tight Monetary Policy
 Govt. subsidy
 Cont…

 Lack of new investment

 Raw material Prices
 Lack of technology
 Poor education system
 Unskilled labor