The Way Forward
By Shaukat Aziz
Prime Minister of Pakistan
When I returned
home to serve our beloved country as Finance Minister,
I brought with me thirty years of observation and
study from some of the fastest growing regions of
the world, regions as diverse and far removed as
the formerly communist Eastern Europe, the Far East,
the Middle East and Latin America. Despite their
great diversity they had one thing in common: they
suffered from varying degrees of deprivation and
different kinds of backwardness despite their immense
potential.
Some had very poor populations; others had wealth
imbalances between people and regions; still others
whose human resource development was lacking despite
great wealth. And I saw how so many pulled themselves
out of the mire of backwardness and reached the
doorstep of the Twenty-First Century. As I saw,
so did I learn, because, not least, I also had the
opportunity of participating in the development
of some of those countries as a senior banker. It
was a unique experience indeed. I saw an economic
miracle unfold before my eyes as country after country
transformed itself from relative backwardness to
positions of great affluence and development, literally
in a single life span.
Why can’t we develop like that too, I often
asked myself? Why can’t we, with our far greater
human and natural resources, become a force to be
reckoned with economically and not just geo-strategically?
We have the potential – much more than most
others. What we lacked was a clear vision in which
everyone has a stake and which we all own collectively.
It is this vision that leads to modern and contemporary
policies with continuity and consistency.
As I looked out of the window of my Manhattan office
and saw the purposeful stride of ordinary citizens
going about their lives, this thought would vex
me. It would haunt me in my pensive moments for
if one knows that it cannot be done one comes to
a sad acceptance. But when one knows that it can
be done, and done with much less ado than others
who have succeeded and where we have not even begun
to try, it makes one restless and discontented.
But it never made me despondent for I always knew
that it could be done provided we had the opportunity
that comes from unity of purpose, clarity of vision
and a dynamic leadership hand-in-hand with a people
galvanized by self-belief and self esteem marching
towards greatness in unison and harmony. This is
how history is made. Making history is in our genes.
We made an unmatched history when, led by the Quaid-i-Azam
Mohammad Ali Jinnah the Muslims of India struggled
for and won Pakistan against unimaginable odds.
They succeeded because they were fired by unity
of purpose, faith in Allah and in themselves and
enormous discipline. They won not only freedom,
they made a new country. In so doing they altered
the course of history by changing the map of the
world.
Thus it has always been my conviction that with
Allah’s blessings and the implementation of
sagacious policies, Pakistan too can perform such
a miracle and many more during our lifetimes. We
too can witness the emergence of Pakistan as a highly
developed, prosperous and modern Islamic state.
A Pakistan where poverty has been banished, where
our children attend outstanding schools as a matter
of routine, where the genius of our people is fully
harnessed because it finds the proper opportunities
and channels for our advancement, where widespread
disease has been wiped out, where we have modern,
thriving businesses and markets. A Pakistan which
is populated with modern urban centres and dynamic
rural communities where all Pakistanis can lead
peaceful, productive and fulfilling lives free of
harassment and hassle. A Pakistan that becomes a
model for others to emulate.
Since returning home five years ago, I have witnessed
firsthand the great ability of our people to face
hardship with great dignity and patience, what tremendous
resilience they have, what a hardworking and God-fearing
people we all are. Given the right environment we
have the character to achieve any goal, climb any
mountain. Our moment has come. This is not just
my feeling. It is my conviction. All that remains
is for us to seize our moment and make it truly
ours. It is for us to reach that which is beyond
our grasp and show to the world why the heavens
were made. I am determined that we will not lose
this moment. We will not let it slip away. We will
not let it pass. With the help of the Almighty and
His people, we will grasp it. I know it. I feel
it in my bones. I have seen how green the grass
is on the other side. I am determined that our people
will see it too.
Why am I so convinced that we will reach our goal
of a prosperity that is shared equitably by all?
Because after a long time and much sacrifice we
have reached the stage where we can achieve fairly
high rates of economic growth and look forward to
doubling our national output every decade. A per
capita GDP target of $1,500 by the year 2015 is
well within our sights. This will translate into
higher incomes and a much better quality of life
for the vast majority of our people. This is our
major long-term goal and will require our GDP to
grow by around 7 to 8% every year on a sustainable
and consistent basis.
I am mindful of the fact that achieving this kind
of growth will be challenging, but it is eminently
attainable. To do this we will need to excel in
and achieve mastery over the entire value chain
in our traditional fortes, like the textile industry,
for instance, and agriculture – especially
agriculture. At the same time we will need to graduate
into higher value-added and fast growing sectors
like construction, energy, engineering, electronics,
information technology and bio-technology. We will
have to unleash the potential of our urban areas
for growth and creativity. We will have to make
a quantum leap in value addition in agriculture
and involve every village and hamlet in the development
process.
It is the God-given right of the people to expect
the State to endow them with the ability to acquire
the best knowledge, have access to healthcare and
to justice. All this requires major and continuous
investment in human beings. Our people have to be
equipped with the technical and managerial skills
to enable them to participate fully in the world
economy. I believe that our people are our biggest
resource and investment in their development will
pay off many times over. My aim is to achieve 100%
literacy within the next ten years and create quality
facilities in the country to produce the world-class
human resources that are needed by the economy.
We have to urgently improve our standard of education
at all levels. Presently, we have a very general
education system that does not have linkages to
the evolving job market. Because of this, not only
do our people, particularly our youth, suffer, Pakistan
suffers as well from woeful gaps in skills. Thus
we will lay great emphasis on vocational training
so that we turn out the best skilled workers that
there are. The ability is there, as witness the
phenomenal engineering and sports products coming
out of Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot, to name but
three cities.
In order to have a population with a modern and
contemporary education, we must learn English. This
in no way militates against our national language
or any of our mother tongues. Language is but a
tool of learning which equips people to acquire
the most up-to-date knowledge as fast as possible.
It does not replace or alter one’s identity.
Do you think that people like me got so far in the
world simply because we are very intelligent? Our
intelligence would have got us nowhere if we did
not have good English, just as far more intelligent
and educated people never got the opportunity to
compete and excel internationally because they did
not. Yet by the Grace of God we have remained rooted
in Islam and anchored in our culture. The English
language should be just one of the many modern tools
that our people must acquire. We must equip our
children with this vital tool by teaching it to
them as a subject, just as we teach – and
will always continue to teach – religious
studies and Urdu. It should be treated like studying
accounting or physics. Let us face it: English has
become the international lingua franca in which
the bulk of the latest knowledge, information and
data are imparted. Even in developed countries that
have other languages people are learning English
without feeling threatened. We already have yet
another advantage: English is one of our two official
languages. So let us develop this tool and give
our people a chance to compete at the international
level. For when our people compete successfully
it goes without saying that so does Pakistan.
A healthy nation is a productive nation. This has
become a truism precisely because it is true. Thus
it is my goal to launch programs that lead to primary
healthcare for all within the next ten years. In
the same timeframe, and as part of our overall health
strategy, we will initiate programs that provide
safe drinking water for everyone in rural and urban
areas alike.
To improve the quality of life of the people I am
determined to improve the quality of public service
delivery to the people at their doorsteps. In this
respect, amongst other services like education,
health, water and sanitation, a fair and affordable
justice system at the grassroots level that provides
justice to the poorest and least empowered in a
reasonable period of time will be provided. This
is an imperative. Police has to be reformed to provide
impartial, transparent and corruption-free service
to all segments of society and ensure security of
life, limb and property for all citizens. A confident,
well-educated and healthy population is the key
to our success.
Our human development strategies, our initiatives
in the industrial, agricultural, services and natural
resource sectors will be designed to make Pakistan
a regional economic powerhouse that is recognized
as an economic lynchpin of the region. Our goal
is to become the trade and manufacturing hub that
connects North Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, the
Middle East and South Asia. We intend to exploit
our unique geo-strategic position fully for the
welfare of our people and use this major economic
and competitive advantage as a key driver of our
economic growth.
People ask me: can we really pull it off? My answer
is, ‘yes’, provided we all pull in the
same direction. The endeavour has to be a joint
public-private partnership embedded in an overall
system that works and has inbuilt incentives to
guide us in the right direction. Good governance
in the public sector has to be coupled with good
governance in the private sector as well. We intend
to deregulate the economy substantially while ensuring
that public sector institutions that provide critical
services deliver those services that the people
expect of them. This is the best way to create an
enabling environment for private enterprise and
initiative to develop and thrive. At the same time
we will support the efforts of the private sector
to grow and improve itself. I am fully confident
that the private sector will deliver in a big way
by providing millions of sustainable jobs to the
people and outstanding products and services to
the markets they serve.
Now let me get down to brass tacks. Years of neglect
have deprived our agriculture of new ideas, processes
and products. We will reverse this. We will bring
the results of world-class research to our farmer
so that we can leapfrog productivity gaps prevalent
in Pakistan. Newer seeds, newer pesticides, newer
processes will be introduced and made available
in time and easily. Large water storage dams will
be constructed and water shortage eliminated. In
our development thinking we will connect production
with modern wholesale markets and the markets in
turn will be connected to processing and value adding
agri-business centres.
The competitive advantage of each region and district
will be explored and exploited. The idea is that
the people of every village can excel in at least
one value added product that can profitably be brought
to the urban and international markets. We have
great potential in livestock production and downstream
processing, horticulture, fruits and vegetables
and other products to which value can be added.
Our objective is to create an agriculture sector
that magnifies ‘on-farm employment’
with massive ‘off-farm employment’ opportunities.
This will bring prosperity to the villages, bridge
the urban-rural divide and reduce the need for rural-urban
migration.
In manufacturing we will provide a hassle-free environment
to our industrialists. We plan to develop modern
production and export enclaves. Industrial estates
will be developed that will have all the requisite
infrastructure and modern facilities. We will support
manufacturing clusters by programs that upgrade
their technological capabilities, improve their
connections with the international markets and provide
state-of-the-art training to their workforce. We
will rationalise and reduce the number of taxes,
create a tax system that promotes employment-creating
manufacturing, improve labour laws and deregulate
arcane regulations.
In the services sector we have enormous opportunities
in housing and construction, the tourism and hotel
industry, communications and transport development,
the retailing industry and commercial developments.
This sector has the potential of creating millions
of jobs – our objective is to remove the regulatory
and other hurdles in its development. Scarcity of
land for housing and development will be eliminated.
New housing schemes based on proper planning and
modern amenities will be launched to meet rising
demand. Model village programs will be developed
for upgrading rural housing.
As the economy grows there will be tremendous opportunities
in the energy sector. We plan to boost domestic
exploration and development of oil and gas resources
and bring in oil and gas pipelines from Central
and West Asia. The power sector will witness a major
expansion. We will fully exploit our hydel, gas
and coal potential to generate affordable power.
We intend to be the most energy-efficient and energy-sufficient
manufacturing economy in the region.
We are already witnessing a boom in telecommunications.
New technology is being introduced at a frenzied
pace. This trend will be further intensified. On
our path to becoming the regional economic powerhouse
and trade and manufacturing hub we will have to
develop a network of modern communication systems
including electronic, road, rail and air networks,
banking systems that connect the regional economies
in tandem with a financial services industry that
can channel billions of dollars into the needed
infrastructure projects. All this activity is coming
our way. I am aware of the enormous challenges we
face but I also have the realisation that this time
we must succeed. We have to create ‘Pakistan
Inc’ to reap all the benefits. The thrill
of achieving enormous gain and change for our country
and its people is what is driving me. God willing
we will succeed.
But success will elude us if we don’t maintain
a high-level of political stability, with both the
government and the opposition ensuring the viability
of the system and working towards making Pakistan
truly democratic, which means, first and foremost,
continuously and consistently improving the human
condition. We have to avoid political point scoring
and develop a working and stable consensus between
the opposition and the government. All countries
that have developed had sound and stable political
processes. Where the political process was uncertain,
they failed to develop. We need collective vision,
continuity and consistency of policies, good governance
and a high degree of transparency and accountability.
Having a healthy debate is a must in a working democracy,
but we must also ensure that only such decisions
are taken that sacrifice personal interests at the
alter of the interests of the country. We will develop
harmony and brotherhood amongst the provinces and
make certain that the benefits of development reach
every nook and corner of the country. We have to
reject corruption and nepotism in all its manifestations
and ensure that public funds are utilised most effectively.
Our external relations should so develop that the
international environment becomes conducive to our
development efforts. Regional peace and cooperation
have to be promoted and access to global and regional
markets enhanced. We have to ensure an investment-friendly
climate that promotes both domestic and foreign
investment in our economy. This would require us
as a nation to protect our internal security environment
from deterioration and join the government in challenging
and eliminating all forms of violence in our society.
We have to create an image that is not threatening
to Pakistanis and foreigners alike, be they visitors
or investors. Terrorism of all types and dimensions
will be rooted out, but while doing so we must remain
cognizant of the causes that lead to this horrific
effect so that this monster does not raise its ugly
head again in our sacred land. Its genuine causes
must be identified, addressed and redressed. People
may be rich but will have little rights if their
country is beset with terrorism because in the State’s
fight to eliminate terrorism some rights of the
people inevitably get eroded. No nation can develop
without peace and security.
Our defense capability, strengthened by our nuclear
deterrent, guarantees our sovereignty. We seek peace
for everybody because without peace there can be
no development and without development there can
be no prosperity. So while we have no offensive
design against anyone we will guard our sovereignty
with full vigour. Our armed forces have played a
brilliant role in protecting our internal and border
security.
Pakistan is a moderate country. President Pervez
Musharraf’s initiative of Enlightened Moderation
is the way to proceed for the Muslim world at large
and the rest of the world too. The Organisation
of Islamic Conference and the Muslim ummah need
to do a lot more and Pakistan has its role to play
here. If Pakistan projects an image of a modern,
vibrant Islamic state, it will help improve the
image of the Muslim ummah too.
Our foreign policy is driven by national interests.
The way to expand relationships with other countries
is to create mutual dependencies. Our priority will
be to have closer relations with the Muslim world
while pursuing a path of peace and diplomacy that
ensures the recognition of the rights and aspirations
of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. China is our
strategic ally, as always. Ours is a very special,
very unique relationship that has stood the test
of time and travail. With the big powers our relationship
has to be based on fair values and mutual interests.
Relations with all of them have improved consistently.
We must now include more economic diplomacy in our
overall foreign policy as that creates a strong
bond between any two countries – this will
include more trade, more investment and I even include
the export of manpower, because this too creates
tremendous linkages.
Our vision is to be a vibrant, modern Islamic state
where the people have a myriad of opportunities.
Never imagine that the heavens will open and riches
will start falling out of the sky. God does not
help a people that do not help themselves. That
means hard work, honesty and steadfastness of purpose
and our prime purpose has to be to develop our country.
So let us make a covenant with ourselves to work
together to realise Pakistan’s true and great
potential. In this lies our salvation.
—
The writer is Prime Minister of Pakistan
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