PBF urges return of agriculture and industry to federal control through 28th Amendment

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) on Thursday called for agriculture and industry to be brought back under federal policymaking through the proposed 28th Constitutional Amendment, saying the move was needed to address what it described as shortcomings stemming from the 18th Amendment.

In a letter sent to political parties and the government, the Punjab-based nonpartisan organisation said Pakistan’s long-term economic interests required a national policy framework for the two sectors, which it termed central to the economy. The forum asked major political parties to incorporate broad economic protections into the proposed amendment to support long-term stability and continuity in policymaking.

The PBF said a stable, predictable and growth-focused economic framework was essential, arguing that repeated policy shifts had undermined investor confidence and obstructed sustainable economic progress.

PBF President Khawaja Mehboobur Rehman said the business community was increasingly demanding consistency and continuity in economic decision-making to facilitate long-term investment and industrial planning. He also stressed the need for stronger national coordination in agriculture and industry through an improved constitutional arrangement.

The transfer of agriculture and industrial sectors to the provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment did not produce the desired outcomes

Referring to agriculture, the forum said annual cotton production, which it said was around 12 million bales before the 18th Amendment, had fallen to nearly 5 million. It also said the wheat sector had faced continuing difficulties in recent years, including policy uncertainty, import-related problems and weak coordination between provinces.

According to the PBF, many major economies keep agriculture closely coordinated at the federal level to preserve national cohesion and food security. The organisation said parliament should use the opportunity presented by the proposed amendment to introduce constitutional safeguards for key economic principles, including fiscal discipline, currency stability and continuity in long-term economic policies.

The forum maintained that the existing governance model had led to fragmented policymaking and regulatory inconsistencies across provinces, affecting productivity, investment flows and industrial expansion. It said farmers, industrialists, exporters and investors still looked to the federal government for guidance on taxation, incentives, trade policy and wider economic planning, while provincial governments often had limited capacity to deliver coordinated responses.

The PBF also said Punjab and Sindh had at times moved in contradictory directions on issues affecting both agriculture and industry. In light of these concerns, it proposed a stronger national coordination mechanism for the two sectors to ensure more uniform policy implementation and greater economic coherence across the country.

The organisation said such steps would help reduce uncertainty, strengthen investor confidence and support sustainable economic growth. It further warned that overlapping federal and provincial regulations were continuing to create procedural hurdles and deter fresh investment, resulting in what it called jurisdictional confusion in economic governance.

Mr Rehman said parliamentary leaders should use the 28th Amendment to pursue meaningful economic reforms, particularly by restoring agriculture and industry to federal control for stronger and more coordinated economic governance.