Was this content written or created while at IBA?

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Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

10-1-2005

Conference Name

Pakistani Professionals Forum

Conference Location

Toronto, Canada

Conference Dates

October 1, 2005

Series

Faculty Research - Book Chapters and Conference Papers

First Page

1

Last Page

13

Keywords

Development challenges, Overseas Pakistanis, Pakistani Professionals Forum of Canada, Pakistan

Abstract / Description

Let me thank the Pakistani Professionals Forum of Canada for inviting me to address this august gathering. It is indeed a privilege and honour to be present here this evening and interact with such a distinguished audience. The topic which I would like to address today is: How the overseas Pakistanis can help Pakistan’s development challenges in the coming decade. Pakistan has been able to turn around its economy during the last six years from a situation of imminent default in the late 1990s to the current status of a dynamic, vibrant emerging economy - one of the fastest growing in Asia. Pakistan has successfully re-established its access to international capital markets and its sovereign bond is trading at a price that is not enjoyed even by investment grade countries. We have voluntarily said good-bye to the International Monetary Fund as the country has regained its economic sovereignty. Unlike the popular notion that the September 11 has benefited the economy, the fact is that dependence on foreign assistance has been reduced to the extent that it is now less than 10 percent of the entire foreign exchange earnings. The external debt ratio – one of the main indicators of the country’s dependence on the others – has sharply declined from over 50 percent to 30 percent of GDP. More importantly, despite all the various shocks, such as the recent oil price shock, the economy has remained resilient and has withstood these difficult times without any serious disruption to the market stability. The abolition of quotas on textile exports under the WTO regime and the withdrawal of preferential tariff arrangements by the European Union have not adversely affected our textile industry. Pakistan’s share in the highly competitive world export market has in fact risen during the last few years. In a survey of doing business in 150 countries around the world carried out by the World Bank this year, Pakistan has clearly emerged as one of the top ten reformers in the world. Its ranking in order of an enabling business environment was 60 compared to 116 for India. This shows that we have come a long way from a highly bureaucratic, controlled and regulated economy to a market and business friendly, liberal and deregulated private sector oriented economy.

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