$46b series vs policy vacillation

Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) Chairman, Abdul Basit, seems to be quite right in his forecast that the Chinese investment of $46 billion means many more investments of that scale coming in the foreseeable future.
Apparently, this is some kind of an optimistic pragmatism as against the pessimistic pragmatism that is rampant in our political circles that view and perceive everything with a jaundiced eye. After all, everything appears yellow to a jaundiced eye.
But the matter is not that of viewing the things by applying some sophisticated economic science theories. The matter is so simple that even a layman not at all conversant with economic theories understands this ‘ripple effect’ phenomenon without even knowing what is the complete meaning of the term ‘ripple effect’.
Go and meet any small street vendor and an ordinary trader who earns livelihood on daily basis. Even he knows that a market where the flow of ‘surmaya’ (capital) is smooth and sizeable, the business flourishes by leaps and bounds. A well-running shop (and thus a market and thus an economy) becomes a centre stage of increased and diversified investment coming from various directions. Even those investors, producers and manufacturers place their products and investment in such markets that become a hub of investors’ confidence and trust through the pumping in of heavy investment. It is a simple natural phenomenon that wealth begets wealth. Chinese investment of $46 billion is surely going to turn Pakistani economy into a hub of global and national investors’ confidence but I was saddened to know from the horse’s mouth, I mean from Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, that private sector was not reposing trust in the national economy and in its (national economy’s) upward jump “despite the fact that our private sector was very strong”.
Most probably, the PBIT chief and his team took up the initiative of holding the after-care investors’ conference with the belief that some candid talk and prodding by the CM might remove the misgivings of the investors besides brining them out of the state of constant despair and despondency.
Commenting on this situation, poet, writer and research scholar Syed Jawad Shamsi says that investment by the national investors in big or medium-scale projects is not an improbability. There are only two things needed in this regard over and above the motive and consideration of profit and that is the passion for serving the compatriots. This is not a rarity, says Shamsi. The world has seen the rise of public welfare-oriented investment theories and practices in recent times, according to this research scholar.
These issues and their root causes were recently discussed and debated at another thinking forum which I don’t yet like to label as a think tank given the ‘delicate composition’ of the last session comprising Citizen Commission for Human Development’s (CCHD’s) Executive Director, Farah Azeem Khan, famous human rights veteran Apa (elderly noble lady) Mehnaz Rafi, MPAs Saadia Salahuddin and Uzma Bokhari and one of the young females from Daultana family. CCHD has conducted a number of discussions with the objective of evolving policy priorities and recommendations for the governments and of course, for ‘human development’. Focus has been mainly on the threadbare study and analysis of provinces’ performance, post-18th Amendment, especially in the areas of Local Government, Women Development and Health. The most deplorable thing that came out of all these discussions was the revelation that most of the government departments that were approached time and again for their input, showed complete indifference (my guess is it is not mere indifference but contempt for those living below the ‘honourable existence line’). I think Farrah erred in this matter by not having recourse to the ‘Right to Information’ law or to the sneakers from my class, I mean media. Whatever, some valuable revelations did come to the fore during this quest can be summed up in this manner: ‘Governance still appears to be under the spell of personality cult or personality worship, things being handled on personal whims of executives or chief executives; system could not be evolved so far despite our country having gone independent 67 years ago; the long-established departments of Organization and Method (O & M) and Ways and Means are on the death row and last but not the least, Policy Vacillation is the order of the day. Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif’s aides, however, claim that the PM is very particular about doing away with this whimsical governance factor as he seriously wants to replace personality cult with a system. If that materialises, it would be a yet bigger-and more delightful- news for the inhabitants of this land than any inter-state corridor.
(mianrehman1@gmail.com)