New policy viewpoint urges the government to activate existing institutions, certify workers, support Pakistani firms and capture a share of the Gulf’s trillion-dollar project pipeline
ISLAMABAD, JUL 15: /DNA/ – The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) has called for the immediate launch of a Middle East Recovery Mission to help Pakistan move beyond exporting workers and begin exporting contracts, services, goods and firm-level expertise.
In its latest Policy Viewpoint, “Capturing the Middle East Recovery: From Labour Export to Contract Export,” authored by Dr Nasir Iqbal, Professor of Economics and Registrar, PIDE, the Institute argues that Pakistan’s relationship with the Gulf remains economically important but structurally weak. While the country benefits from remittances, energy supplies, deposits and diplomatic goodwill, it captures only a limited share of the commercial value generated through construction, logistics, engineering, healthcare, information technology and regional reconstruction.
“We send workers; others get projects. We provide manpower; others provide systems.”
The report estimates that the Gulf’s project and reconstruction landscape represents a market exceeding US$1.5 trillion this decade, including Saudi Vision 2030 projects and reconstruction requirements in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon. Pakistan, however, continues to earn mainly through workers’ wages rather than through project margins, specialist subcontracts, supply chains and professional services.
Despite strong labour and remittance flows, Pakistan exported only US$3.79 billion worth of goods to GCC countries in FY2025, compared with imports of approximately US$17.9 billion. The study also notes that more than 762,000 Pakistani workers went abroad in 2025, but around 61 per cent were classified as unskilled, limiting their wages, bargaining power and long-term economic contribution.
According to Dr Nasir Iqbal, Pakistan’s challenge is not the absence of comparative advantage but the country’s inability to convert its workers, firms, products and strategic relationships into organised, certified and bankable commercial offerings.
The proposed Mission would operate through five permanent desks within the Special Investment Facilitation Council, using institutions that already exist rather than creating another authority or administrative structure. These desks would focus on labour and skills certification, exports and supply chains, investment and contracts, defence-industrial cooperation and migrant protection.
Under the proposed model, Pakistani workers would be certified, registered, insured and linked with formal banking channels before deployment. Exporters would receive support in areas such as construction materials, food, pharmaceuticals, surgical goods and other products required by Gulf markets. Pakistani firms operating in construction, logistics, healthcare, information technology and facilities management would be prepared for subcontracts, joint ventures and project partnerships.
The framework also seeks to convert Pakistan’s strategic relationships into financed export orders, maintenance agreements, training arrangements and joint manufacturing opportunities, while strengthening legal assistance, emergency insurance, wage recovery and rapid-response mechanisms for overseas workers.
The study recommends that each desk should have a clearly designated institutional owner, measurable responsibilities and a publicly monitored 90-day implementation schedule. It argues that transparency and accountability must remain central to the Mission so that workers, exporters and firms can track progress and institutional delays can be identified.
PIDE’s indicative estimates suggest that the Mission could generate US$2–4 billion in additional, debt-free external inflows annually by Year Three, with the potential to exceed US$5 billion by Year Five. These gains could come from higher remittances through skilled employment, stronger exports of goods, contract revenues and defence-industrial cooperation. The study presents these figures as transparent policy targets rather than guaranteed forecasts and recommends that they be verified before being used in budgeting or official projections.
The policy viewpoint further proposes the introduction of a Gulf Worker ID, linked with NADRA, formal banking, insurance and skills certification. The system would help protect workers, support formal remittance channels and improve the government’s ability to respond during emergencies, deportations or evacuations.
It also recommends a diaspora-focused Pakistan Development Bond to channel part of migrant savings into productive infrastructure and long-term investment rather than unproductive assets.
PIDE emphasises that the initiative is not separate from the government’s existing economic agenda. Instead, it offers a practical mechanism for advancing the exports, digital economy, infrastructure, employment and equity objectives of Uraan Pakistan.
The report urges the Prime Minister to designate SIFC as the nerve centre of the Middle East Recovery Mission, approve the proposed 90-day implementation framework and ensure that all economic gains flow through transparent and audited contracts to Pakistani workers and private firms.
The study concludes that Pakistan must stop viewing the Middle East merely as a destination for workers and begin treating it as a strategic market for Pakistani businesses, services, products and institutional capabilities.
“Pakistan does not need another strategy, council or consultant. It needs an operating model that converts relationships into contracts, skills into higher incomes and remittances into productive investment.”
