PESHAWAR
\nThe 37th AGM and Conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE), hosted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), in collaboration with Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, began at the Jinnah Auditorium of the BZU.
\nIn the inaugural session of the Conference, Dr Nadeem Ul Haque, Vice-Chancellor of PIDE and President of the PSDE emphasized the significant contributions of Mahbub ul Haq to PIDE. He also highlighted PIDE & PSDE\u2019s role in asking pertinent questions and engaging in impactful research exploring the country\u2019s wide-ranging socio-economic issues, said in a press release issued here on Tuesday.
\nDr. Nadeem stressed the need for a paradigm shift in thinking and the importance of asking critical questions. He said that the economic system in Pakistan is a \u201clife support system.\u201d Dr. Nadeem said that there is an immediate need to explore challenges such as exchange rates, unemployment, and the aid-debt trap.
\nIn the secretary\u2019s report, Dr Iftikhar Ahmad, Secretary of the PSDE, reiterated PIDE\u2019s desire to initiate and collaborate on further research with researchers in South Punjab.
\nThe first panel discussion of the Conference was on \u201cForeign Aid: Boon or Bane?\u201d The discussion was moderated by Shahid Mahmood, Research Fellow at PIDE, Asad Hayauddin, Former Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division, Tobias Haque, Lead Country Economist for Pakistan at the World Bank, and Naveed Aziz, Senior Governance Advisor to the FCDO.
\nThe moderator said that since 1950, Pakistan has received over USD 200 billion in foreign aid. A significant chunk of the foreign aid has been in the form of loans. Also, a large amount of aid has been \u201ctied aid.\u201d
\nAsad Hayauddin remarked that the Pakistani government continues to lack direction. Consequently, we turn to the donors to help set our development direction. Pakistan\u2019s strategy for long has been external resource mobilization for short-term gains.
\nTobias Haque said that there are numerous examples where countries came to the donors with a homegrown development plan and sought development agencies\u2019 financial and technical assistance.
\nNaveed Aziz said that aid utilization has not necessarily been entirely negative in Pakistan, and aid dependence in some areas has come down as well.
\nAll panelists agreed that Pakistan needs to develop a long-term development plan with a clear indication of what support it requires from external sources and to what extent. Pakistan\u2019s debt utilization stands as a major issue that has to be immediately improved. Pakistan needs to realize that aid is not the solution to problems, instead, it is just a tool to facilitate the implementation of development plans and achieving the set goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR The 37th AGM and Conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE), hosted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), in collaboration with Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, began at the Jinnah Auditorium of the BZU. In the inaugural session of the Conference, Dr Nadeem Ul Haque, Vice-Chancellor of PIDE and President of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-369399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n