Pakistan should be prepared to capitalise on new opportunities

Islamabad : Pakistan should be prepared to capitalise on new opportunities that are presenting themselves with ample predictability in the prevailing geopolitical situation, said former finance minister Dr Salman Shah.

Dr Shah was delivering his keynote address at a panel discussion on ‘Economic security and geo-economics: challenges and opportunities for Pakistan,’ organised here by Institute of Strategic Studies (IRS).

Dr Shah said that Pakistan can be a connecting hub for Central Asia, Western China all the way to the Indian Ocean, he t said adding that Chinese economy will be the driving force for us in this regard. As a non-aligned partner, Pakistan should further bolster its economic relationship with China and may be with Central Asia and Russia while trying to keep our channels with the Western world open because Pakistan could be the place where all these powers can meet. He opined that if we generate that kind of computation, it would be a very big success for Pakistan's economics and foreign policy.

Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, former Finance Minister, stated that in today's world, a country's strength is not in its military prowess alone but also in its economic strength and durability which determines its standing in the global community. She said that Pakistan has to go through a very painful transition in order to become a self-reliant and resilient economy. she stressed that Pakistan needs to implement concrete measures for economic solvency on emergency basis, otherwise it will keep on becoming the collateral damage of the political games that are taking place globally.

Noted economist Dr Akmal Hussain highlighted that so far, Pakistan's economic policy has essentially been designed to generate incomes for a small coalition of elites which has led its institutional structure to systematically exclude the majority of the people from the process of economic growth. He suggested that Pakistan needs to create economic educational and research institutes and connect them with economic enterprises in order to bring innovation and economic agency to the people. Dr. Akmal also emphasised to build an economy that can produce knowledge intensive exports.

Dr Sajid Amin from Sustainable Development Policy Institute said that Pakistan's economists and policy makers need to ask the right questions about the country's economy and re-shift focus and priorities initiatives. He suggested to include the SME policy into Pakistan's development policy and manage population. He said that Pakistan needs to shift its growth structure from consumption to investment, from imports to exports and focus more on consolidating manufacturing base which is unfortunately bypassed by its services sector that is a not a highly productive sector.

Dr Safdar Sohail, Dean, National Institute of Public Policy, Lahore, said that to Pakistan's economy, it is high time for self-reflection. Pakistan needs to control the surge of conspicuous consumption and stop emulating the practices of developed and advanced economies. Promotion of imported goods to the local population and creating value in their consumption is what needs to be controlled.

Amer Zafar Durrani, Dr Usman Chohan, Dr Liaquat Shah, and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion.