World leaders credit PML-N govt with Pak progress

Political, business leaders impressed by Pakistan’s improved economy; World Economic Forum chairman says Pakistan ready to lead regional connectivity; Swiss president says her country ready to work on hydro projects

DAVOS: World political and business leaders praised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his political and financial acumen, saying the current government was the reason behind the economic growth in Pakistan

One of them was World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab who on Wednesday said international investors were looking at Pakistan with great optimism. He appreciated the progress of Pakistan in the infrastructure sector and said Pakistan was ready to lead the regional connectivity initiative with the Central Asia.

The remarks came during a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Nawaz gave him a brief outline of his economic agenda and vision for a progressive Pakistan. Schwab shared his feedback on Pakistan after meeting different business leaders and said they considered Pakistan a great investment destination. He said Pakistan was attracting business groups from abroad owing to improved security and improvement in the energy sectors.

Separately, the prime minister reiterated Pakistan's desire to have a peaceful and amicable resolution of all outstanding issues with India, as he elaborated his vision of regional peace.

The remarks came during a meeting with Swiss Confederation President Doris Leuthard, during which the prime minister said Pakistan was concerned over the recent developments in the occupied Kashmir and the gross human rights violations committed by the Indian forces, particularly in the wake of extrajudicial murder of Burhan Wani.

Nawaz said the international community should take notice of the gravity of the situation and ask India to respect human rights of the Kashmiri people and implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.

The remarks came as Pakistan and Switzerland, noting the rich potential of their bilateral ties, called for exploring new avenues of cooperation for mutual benefits. The prime minister said Switzerland’s objective non-discriminatory and criteria-based approach on the NSG membership was commendable.

“We hope that as part of the NSG troika, Switzerland would continue maintaining this principled stand, especially when it takes over the chair of the group later this year.” Nawaz said Pakistan was committed to facilitating and supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process as envisaged under the quadrilateral framework. “We believe that security of Pakistan is directly linked to peace and stability in Afghanistan,” he added.

He said Pakistan had continued to host millions of Afghan refugees for more than three decades. “We are still hosting around 1.5 million refugees and about an equal number of undocumented Afghans,” the prime minister said.

“We believe that there is a need to create necessary pull factors inside Afghanistan for sustained repatriation of Afghan refugees.” The Swiss president said her country’s stance on the NSG was based on principles. She lauded the role played by Pakistan in giving refuge to over three million Afghan refugees on its soil and said Pakistan should continue to play its role in promoting good relations with Afghanistan.

Leuthard said despite the challenges faced by Pakistan, her government was happy to see fast progress made by the country in economy, as she appreciated the economic roadmap being pursued by the Nawaz government to promote stability in Pakistan and in the region.

She said her government was willing to work with Pakistan in hydro power projects. She also appreciated the prime minister’s efforts towards promoting stability in Pakistan and the regional peace.

Switzerland currently ranks fifth in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan. It has traditionally run a trade surplus with Pakistan and has been one of the country’s biggest direct investors for many years.

Many Swiss companies operate in Pakistan some with their own production sites. These firms are mainly based in Karachi and employ around 12,000 people.

In a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe, Nawaz said Pakistan wished to see South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) a vibrant regional organisation and was fully committed to the principles and objectives of the Saarc charter. He said Pakistan believed that Saarc could not be replaced with BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

He termed security and stability as pre-requisites for fighting poverty and promoting economic growth and development. In another meeting, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven shared Pakistan’s concerns over the situation in Occupied Kashmir and said his country was keen to strengthen the existing ties with Pakistan in all spheres.

During the day, the prime minister also held meetings with some top business executives and highlighted the success of his government in ensuring an economic turnaround. Talking to VimpelCom’s Group Chief Executive Officer Jean Charlie, Nawaz said his government was pursuing a comprehensive reforms agenda besides successfully delivering on the major challenges of terrorism, economy and power shortages.

Charlie said he was seeking public-private partnership for working with the government on education and skills development programmes. He said his company was planning to launch new products in Pakistan as the country had come to the forefront as the largest emerging market.

Charlie said he was very excited about the future of Pakistan that had undergone a major transformation in the past few years. VimpleCom is an Amsterdam-based international telecommunication and technology business development firm with over 200 million customers around the world. It has invested $1 billion in Pakistan’s telecom sector by the merger of Mobilink with Warid.

In a meeting with the Standard Chartered Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Jose Vinals, the prime minister said Pakistan was the new attractive destination for foreign investors that offered security and attractive returns.

Vinals said Pakistan was an important partner of the Standard Chartered Bank, which had been working with Chinese banks on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as well as improvement of small and medium enterprises.

Similarly, Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma showed keen interest in investing in Pakistan and to build an e-commerce platform to further promote online business ventures. Ma said his country had a lot of interest in investing in Pakistan as they had closely followed positive economic developments in the country, adding that CPEC had provided immense opportunities for the region and would generate lots of economic activity. The prime minister invited Ma to visit Pakistan at the earliest opportunity.