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 21st 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.
We too can witness the emergence of Pakistan as a highly developed, prosperous and modern Islamic state.
Our moment has come. This is not just my feeling. It is my conviction.
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 percent every year on a sustainable and consistent basis.
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 percent 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.
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.
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. Thus it is my goal to launch programs that lead to primary health care 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.
People ask me: Can we really pull it off? My answer is, ‘yes’, provided we all pull in the same direction. The endeavor 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.
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 centers.
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 rationalize and reduce the number of taxes, create a tax system that promotes employment-creating manufacturing, improve labor 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 realization 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 toward 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 utilized 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 vigor. 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 Organization of Islamic Conference and the 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 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 realize Pakistan’s true and great potential. In this lies our salvation.
Shaukat Aziz
Prime Minister of Pakistan