South Asia: Pakistan and the Himalayan States - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 199

Union-aided venture at Port Qasim 22 miles (35 km) east
of Karachi. Pakistan Steel Mill, which depends on im-
ported iron and coal, was privatized in 2006. The country
manufactures and exports such items as farm and indus-
trial machinery , buses, motorcycles, and refrigerators.
Port Quasim is Pakistan' is second largest port after
Karachi and is the center of the country' is auto industry .
T Together the two ports carry more than 60 percent of
Pakistan' is imports and exports. Port Qasim is situated in
a coastal mangrove environment that once had eight
species. As a result of general pollution and a massive oil
spill in 2003, only four species survive.
In 2002, construction began on a new port at
Gwadar, 46 miles (75 km) east of the Iranian border.
Funded by China, the facility opened in 2008 and is now
supervised by Singapore' s Port Authority . As Singapore
has one of the world' is greatest ports, it is assumed that
their experts will ensure that Gwadar will be run effec-
tively . The first ship to enter the new port carried wheat
from Canada.
Much of Pakistan' is industry is tied to agriculture.
Manufactured goods account for about two-thirds of ex-
ports. These are mostly cotton products and processed
foods.
The government has a strong “political will” to up-
grade and modernize the textile industry . However, de-
clines in cotton production have driven down exports.
Moreover, the industry is facing new , stiff competition
from China, India, and Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh,
which is not a cotton-growing country , is earning more
than Pakistan in garment and other textile exports.
Pakistan' s major trading partners are the United
States, Japan, and Persian Gulf nations. In recent years
Pakistan has pursued trade relationships through supra-
national organizations. In the mid-1980s, the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
was formed to disassociate political conflicts from eco-
nomic cooperation. SAARC includes Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), estab-
lished by Pakistan, Iran, and T Turkey in 1985, now in-
cludes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrghizistan, Tajikistan,
T Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Pakistan is furthering its ground linkages with
neighboring countries. In 1994, construction started on
a highway connecting Pakistan with T Turkey via Iran.
However, progress has become mired in litigation on the
part of T Turkish investors. In 2009, the first container
train arrived in Istanbul, T Turkey, , via T Tehran, Iran, from
Islamabad. Pakistan has no rail link to China, but contracts

20 percent of villages each year. Each center is sup-
posed to have all inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides,
and certified seeds. Repair facilities for machinery
and training for tractor driving are only two of the
services to be provided. Centers should have exhibi-
tion plots, training videos, and information about
such activities as animal husbandry , poultry raising,
bee-keeping, and floristry . Interest-free loans should
also be available.
Experts claim that farm productivity could be
raised by 80 to 100 percent if VCAs are established
and run properly . While VCAs sound promising,
their efficacy will depend on action instead of
promises as well as equitability in services and dis-
bursements instead of patronage and corruption.

FEMINIZATION OF AGRICUL TURE
Increasing numbers of women are working in agricul-
tural production, livestock raising, and related cottage
industries. Women are especially important in rice pro-
duction, and cotton-picking is considered to be exclu-
sively women' is work. Female farm labor is essential in
the wet season when many men leave to find work else-
where. Whatever the case, women do more farm tasks
and spend more time doing them than do men. Pakistan' s
Labor Force Survey of 2004 indicates that male and fe-
male participation in agriculture is 38 percent and 67
percent, respectively .
Women participate in all operations relating to crop
production such as sowing, transplanting, weeding, and
fertilizing; harvesting, threshing, grinding, winnowing,
husking, and storage; and building storage bins and feed-
ing animals. Rural women carry out these duties in addi-
tion to their regular domestic chores of cooking, cleaning,
caring for their husbands, children, and elderly family
members, as well as collecting water and firewood.
In some areas of the country , especially in the south,
men may marry several women in order to get more
workers. After all, female labor is essentially free! What-
ever the situation, women, even with their 7 to 15 hour
daily workloads, eat alone, eat last, and eat the least.

P akistan's Industries

With government backing, industrialization has pro-
gressed at a rapid pace. Even so, heavy industry is limited.
Pakistan has only one integrated steel mill, a Soviet