ISLAMABAD
\nMinister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Friday stressed that national development required a supportive ecosystem, akin to those in developed countries, built upon four foundational principles including peace and harmony, at least a decade of political stability, policy consistency and continuous reforms.
\n\u201cThe seed of development needs a conducive ecosystem, based on these four pillars, which are evident in every success story,\u201d he stated while addressing a seminar titled \u2018Navigating Public Policy.\u2019 He lamented the country\u2019s political instability in the past, describing it as a decades-long \u201cmusical chairs\u201d scenario, where governments changed every two to three years, resulting in the abandonment of carefully crafted policy frameworks and severely hindering national development and prosperity.
\nWhile acknowledging that Pakistan has made significant strides since its inception in 1947, the minister admitted that the pace of development fell short compared to global standards. \u201cWe have to cut a sorry figure when compared with developed nations,\u201d he said. Recalling economic comparisons, Ahsan Iqbal said that in 1960, Pakistan\u2019s exports were approximately $200 million, while South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand had exports around $205 million.
\nToday, Pakistan\u2019s exports stand at around $32 billion, in contrast to South Korea\u2019s $600 billion, Malaysia\u2019s $300 billion and Thailand\u2019s $200 billion. Highlighting another comparison, he said that in 1980, Pakistan\u2019s per capita income was $300 compared to China\u2019s $200. However, today Pakistan\u2019s per capita income was around $1,600, while China\u2019s has surged to approximately $16,000.
\nHe stressed that the Pakistani nation possessed all the essential characteristics to transform into a developed country, but reiterated that peace, political stability, policy continuity and ongoing reforms were crucial to keeping pace with rapidly evolving global technologies.
\nRecalling the PML-N\u2019s 2013 tenure, Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan at that time was grappling with prolonged electricity load-shedding and heightened terrorist activity. \u201cWith complete determination, within four years, we eliminated load-shedding, eradicated terrorism, and cleansed the country of terrorists,\u201d he said.
\nHe further highlighted the significance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which brought in $25 billion in investment. International rating agencies had predicted that, if Pakistan maintained its development trajectory, it could be among the world\u2019s top 20 economies by 2030. \u201cThis was a validation of our Vision 2010 and Vision 2025,\u201d he remarked.
\nUnfortunately, the minister said, a regime change in 2018 disrupted this progress, as all PML-N-initiated development policies were discarded, and a government with a \u201cfake mandate\u201d was installed. This shift, he argued, erased the positive international sentiment that Pakistan had worked hard to build.
\nNow that the PML-N is back in power, he asserted, \u201cWe must become a sharper economy – more agile, smarter and faster.\u201d To achieve this, the government has introduced a \u201c5Es Framework\u201d under the URAAN PAKISTAN initiative, aimed at positioning Pakistan as a leading economy by boosting exports and developing a robust chain of value-added products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Friday stressed that national development required a supportive ecosystem, akin to those in developed countries, built upon four foundational principles including peace and harmony, at least a decade of political stability, policy consistency and continuous reforms. \u201cThe seed of development needs a conducive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-471945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n