‘Pakistan’s economy for long based on use of geo-strategicpositioning rather than competitiveness’

Islamabad : Dr Waqar Masood Khan, former Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, has said that while Pakistan has made progress despite many obstacles, the country is currently confronting unprecedented problems.

Dr Waqar was speaking as guest of honour at the launch of edited book “Pakistan’s pathways to development: integrating economy, environment, & society” organised here by Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS).

Dr Waqar emphasised that Pakistan was sanctions, limiting its access to international markets compared to regional competitors like Bangladesh. This context, he suggested, is critical in understanding why Pakistan did not progress at the same pace as its competitors. Domestically, he pointed out that despite multiple forums, resources and institutions, Pakistan was not able to address fundamental challenges such as population control, access to education, and most importantly, the lack of political will to tackle these issues. He also underscored the growing challenge of the youth bulge in the country.

He emphasised that discussions on macroeconomic stability must incorporate key issues such as gender inclusion, equality, the reduction of income disparities and ensuring access to essential services like health and education. He underscored the importance of addressing these critical topics in such publications to ensure they remain central to policy planning and decision-making processes.

Haroon Sharif, Chairperson, Board of Investment, stated that the biggest challenge Pakistan faces is restructuring a more competitive economy that can integrate with the region. The economy of Pakistan for long has been based on the usage of its geopolitical and geo-strategic positioning rather than competitiveness.

The world now looks at issues like geopolitics, climate change, pandemics and global supply chains as all part of economic competitiveness. Pakistan needs to create jobs, increase productivity as well as production, introduce the use of emerging technologies, and export to the GDP challenge to meet comparative advantage and introduce serious economic prepositions.