Enabling Progress in Developing Economies: A Novel Hybrid Decision-Making Model for Green Technology Planning

Green technologies play an essential role in designing and developing sustainable and environmental strategies at a country level. With a growing emphasis on green technology strategies in strategic decision making, there is an opportunity for developing and implementing strategies to accelerate green technologies in developing economies. Therefore, this study develops an integrated strategic framework based on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) for effective green technology planning. The SWOT approach scans internal and external factors and sub-factors essential for green technology planning in Pakistan. Subsequently, the Grey Analytical Hierarchical Process (GAHP) method is employed to compute weights of twenty-one subfactors. Finally, Grey Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (GTOPSIS) is used to prioritize eighteen strategies developed for sustainable green technology planning. Results reveal that high productivity potential in the agriculture sector, less foreign investment due to terrorism and security issues, decreasing the cost of green technologies, and the opportunity to build a positive image are key sub-factors for strategic green technology planning. In contrast, improving the security situation in the country to attract foreign direct investment, fewer taxes and duties on import of green technology and lenient rules for local business in transition, and plans and programs to promote green technology in the agriculture sector are observed as optimal strategies. This study is the first to propose a systematic, integrated framework for sustainable green technology planning in Pakistan. Our study fills a gap in the strategic planning and implementation process and provides pathways for policymakers in addressing impediments when implementing green technology planning.

Automated summary

Green technologies play a crucial role in sustainable environmental strategies at the national level. This study proposes an integrated strategic framework based on the SWOT analysis for green technology planning in Pakistan. The Grey Analytical Hierarchical Process (GAHP) and Grey Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (GTOPSIS) methods are used to prioritize strategies. The results highlight the importance of the agriculture sector, foreign investment, cost reduction, and positive image in green technology planning, while improving security, reducing taxes on green technology imports, implementing lenient rules for local businesses, and promoting green technology in agriculture are identified as optimal strategies.