Quoting your statement, the rich go outside and buy luxury stuff from dubai and have a nice weekend. They land in karachi and things bought in duty free zones of UAE are also cleared without tax applied and used in Pakistan. Should that not to be stopped? All those who can afford this have to bluntly taxed. So that they buy rather from Pakistan with regularized duties paid. Name me a single tech giant whose products are not available here. I am not truly that much anti tech stuff. However, i am also a sceptic about it. The online boom will bring things in the hands of few wealthy. Pakistanis have so far no substitute lifeline if someone gets jobless or business collapse. Daraz.pk is merged with China's Ali express. Big brands eat small brands, small brands has already eaten the tailor shop around the corner. This happened everywhere in capitalist world. In every european city you will find the sdame brand everywhere. In many cases the parent company is the same. But Do we know what that jobless tailor in Pakistan is doing? No matter how fucked up greek economy is, their old and jobless are paid a lifeline. here we have nothing. Its not so dreamy as it looks like. Its a golden spider web, only with coated legs can we dance. poor man would be eaten.
personal stuff, from clothes to handheld devices do not come under duty items.
about your tailor example, do you know what this protectionism is doing to the society ?
let me give you some examples:
1. Automotive industry: The cars sold in Pakistan are ridiculously outdated in terms of features and safety, and ridiculously expensive.. leave alone the fact that one needs to wait 7 to 12 months to get a new car.
2. The price of essential food items in Pakistan is same or higher than in Europe! The package fresh milk in Germany costs 55 cents per liter (Fresh one = the one that needs to stay refrigerated, i.e. without preservatives). that comes to around 87 rs, in Pakistan thats almost the same as cost of open unhygienic and diluted milk is sold in Pakistan. big loaf of bread is 50 cents, eggs 1.1 EUR etc. keeping in mind the quality control on the products sold, the amount of sales tax, cost of manpower and the fact europe is not agriculture society, it comes out aLOT cheaper. (also wait for the effect of new exchange rates to reflect, the prices will go higher).
3. There is no protectionism on grocery and clothe markets in Pakistan. Result?
In karachi and lahore, there is a trend of superstores opening up. and people flocking to it. Why ? the customer service, environment and attitude of the super Stores is much better than the arrogant local shopkeepers, with shitty shops. The shitty shops are going out of business. because of their arrogant attitudes. ( I personaly would pay 5 rupees more on a 50 Rs product if the seller gives a shit about me).
same goes for the malls, no. of old shitty malls with wires hanging every where are shutting down and new modern malls are flourishing. Why ? because they provide a better environment and despite expensive products, their bussinesses are blooming.
This is what happened because there was no protectionism in the industry, and this all started when METRO started operating.
4. look what happened to the Pakistani cinema when bollywood films were banned for long time. and what happened once the ban was lifted.
5. Look at the household furniture and hardware market. Its really pathetic. I remember once I searched for stable hooks to mount glass racks on wall, and I could not find one in Karachi. Although I bought some 1 year back. Why? because there is no competition, neither the people know that such products exist, nor the makers care about it. The variety of household stuff sold in Pakistan is extremely low, because this sector is also protected.
apart from this look at any sector of the economy, which is aggressively protected, you will see the same result.
non aggressive taxation to protect local industries, is good, for example lower taxers for local products and smaller companies. as this would keep them in profit and also competitive. But aggressive taxation to squeez the competition out of existence only destroy industry.