Second Annual Pakistan Conference Spotlights Resilience and Reforms
By Elaine Pasquini
Photos by Phil Pasquini
Washington: The Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, in partnership with Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, hosted its Second Annual Pakistan Conference on November 1 and 2, 2023, titled “Resilience and Reforms in Pakistan.”
The “dark shadows” spawned by 40 years of war surrounding Pakistan and the region “are receding,” Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, told attendees gathered at the Atlantic Council’s headquarters. “We have outlived many doom and gloom forecasts and so will we this time.”
Despite economic stresses, Pakistan did not default on loans, the ambassador said. “We kept our economy afloat and brought currency rates and inflation down.” In addition, both remittances and foreign exchange reserves have increased. “We rode through the storms of floods and the pandemic,” Ambassador Khan noted. “This is resilience.”
Many factors abound to make this a good time for US businesses to increase their investments in Pakistan and for Pakistani businessmen and entrepreneurs to enhance their exposure in US markets.
With a population of more than 230 million, Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world. The median age is 22, while nearly 64 percent of the population are below the age of 30. Its middle class of more than 80 million are bilingual, making it the fourth-largest English-speaking nation in the world. “We have a strong and dynamic private sector, both formal and informal, now buoyed by the tech sector,” the ambassador noted. “Hundreds of thousands of tech professionals are joining the market every year.”
“Pakistan and the United States have put their relations on an even keel to build on their security ties and forge economic, technological and cultural partnerships,” he continued. Thanking the US leadership for catalyzing this change, Ambassador Khan enumerated the many dialogues between the two longtime allies on trade, investment, energy, climate change, health, science, technology, defense, counterterrorism and counternarcotics.
The United States has consistently been one of Pakistan’s largest sources of foreign direct investment. Over the past three years, US enterprises, including Pepsi, Coco-Cola, General Electric, Microsoft, Dell, Amazon and dozens of others, have invested more than $1.5 billion in Pakistan. Both countries would like this amount to increase, he added.
To facilitate the ease of doing business in the country for international companies, Pakistan is undertaking measures to “enforce intellectual property rights, ensure stable payment cycles and accelerate capital formation,” he said. To spur economic growth, a Special Investment Facilitation Council was created in June “to act as one window for foreign investors to facilitate speedy approval of projects…and to oversee implementation.”
Addressing the groundbreaking Green Alliance initiated last year, the ambassador pointed out this “enables Pakistan to promote renewable energy and make agriculture sustainable and productive…and help us enhance climate resilience and advance our goals to increase the share of clean energy in our energy mix to 60 percent from its present 34 percent by 2030.
The ambassador reminded the audience that Pakistan emits less than 0.4 percent of global greenhouse gases and yet it is the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change. The frequency and ferocity of floods, cyclones, glacial melt, heatwaves, draught and earthquakes require both domestic preparedness and resilience, as well as international support. “The World Bank has estimated that Pakistan would need nearly $350 billion until 2030 for resilience alone,” the ambassador reported.
Ambassador Khan praised the one million strong Pakistani diaspora for being “a sturdy bridge between Pakistan and the US and a key stakeholder in Pakistan’s economy with their growing investments in healthcare, education, hospitality, financial services, real estate and social development.”
Concluding his comments, Ambassador Khan assured attendees that Pakistan “will benefit from your wise and informed counsel for a resilient Pakistan preparing for stellar economic growth to attain human security for its people and shared prosperity in our extended neighborhood.”
In her remarks, Elizabeth Horst, deputy assistant secretary for Pakistan at the US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, focused on the positive aspects of resilience and reform the United States sees in Pakistan. “When I think of the future of US-Pakistan relations, I think of “smart, talented entrepreneurs on both sides solving problems for a better tomorrow and building bridges between our countries.”
Horst enumerated five ideas for meaningful reform “which will put Pakistan on a course for sustainable long-term economic growth,” including “just to treat investors well” which will attract more international companies.
The long-discussed reform of expanding the tax base needs to be implemented in a broad-based manner to increase revenue which the government needs to reinvest.
Agricultural reform is extremely important especially in light of the dire effects of climate change. These reforms would include eliminating inefficient subsidies, investment in climate-smart agricultural technologies and support for small farmers, she said. The Green Alliance, which focuses on agriculture, clean energy and water, follows on “our rich history of working together…and is one area trying to deliver for both US businesses and Pakistani farmers.”
Addressing needed reforms in the energy sector as demand increases, Horst emphasized that “Pakistan needs to meet the moment with new technologies…that will provide enough energy that is clean and drive Pakistan’s economic growth. The Green Alliance network, she added, as well as US-Pakistan energy security dialogue, is delivering some solutions.
One untapped resource is the “strong, energetic and dynamic” women of Pakistan, Horst stressed. “They are foundational to inclusive and sustainable prosperity…but they also need to have access to loans, education and easier regulations.”
“When Pakistani people drive reforms to invest in their own prosperity and resilience, the rest of the world will follow,” she concluded.
Several panels during the two-day event focused on the economy and climate change. Others addressed the changing world order, including the role of China, and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Most importantly, discussions highlighted US-Pakistan relations and increasing business opportunities, along with promoting regional cooperation to combat climate change.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
