Economy: About half of the Pakistani labour force works in agriculture, where wheat, rice, sugar cane and cotton are the main products. Cotton is by far the country’s most important export, accounting for almost 60 per cent of revenues. Textiles and leather goods are significant export earners. Pakistan has some reserves of graphite and limestone, as well as gypsum, silica, coal, copper and manganese. It also has a small oil industry, but most of its needs must be imported: together with chemicals and machinery, this accounts for nearly three-quarters of Pakistan’s import expenditure. Established manufacturing industries include textiles, food processing and building materials.
The overriding economic problem for the Pakistani economy is its huge foreign debt burden, which is over 90% of GDP and consumes over half of government revenue to meet interest payments. The situation has been made more difficult by the history of poor relations between Pakistan and the international financial community generally. Sanctions were imposed following Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998, coinciding with the fall-out from the 1997 financial crisis that engulfed the major economies of East Asia. Yet despite these factors, the regional crisis centred on Afghanistan and Iraq, and domestic political instability, the Pakistani economy has performed steadily in the last five years. Both annual economic growth and inflation have been in low single figures for the last few years: the 2003 figures are 4.5 and 4.3 per cent respectively; unemployment is a record 7.8 per cent, but there is a high level of underemployment amongst the workforce. In general, economic policy has been determined by the need to comply with conditions laid down by the IMF. An economic reform programme is gradually being implemented, with several major privatisations due in 2004. Pakistan’s main trading partners are the USA, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Hong Kong and the UK.

Business: Ties should be worn for important business appointments. English is commonly used.