LAHORE:

Pakistan’s manufacturing sector, once considered the backbone of its economic expansion and employment generation, is witnessing one of its most critical slowdowns in recent years. A sharp decline in private investment, dropping by more than 46% over the last six years, has raised alarm among industrialists and economists who believe that the stagnation in production and value addition could have long-term consequences for the country’s growth trajectory.

According to Ali Imran Asif, Senior Executive Committee Member of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), private investment in the manufacturing sector shrank from Rs706 billion in financial year 2018-19 to Rs377 billion in 2024-25, reflecting the weakest phase of industrial expansion in over a decade.

He said the

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