WHILE chairing a meeting of delegation of 10 leading Chinese companies, dealing in energy, technology, industry, agriculture and business enterprises, Prime Minister Imran Khan urged them to open their regional offices in Pakistan. He assured the executives of Chinese corporations of providing every possible facility to the aspiring investors. Foreign investment with technology transfer, its indegenisation and skill development are the essential variables for entry into the second phase of industrialisation, the door of which had remained slammed over the past five decades. The leaders of South Asian developing countries had a vision to of providing favourable investment environment for the outsourcing of various industries from Japan and other industrialised nations. These developing countries were then named as Asian Tigers. On the contrary, political leadership in Pakistan implemented policies, which had undone the economic gains of the decade of 1960s, including manufacturing, agriculture and energy sectors.
In the past elected governments implemented disastrous policy of private sector industries and banks nationalization, followed by investment discouraging fiscal and energy policies of the governments alternating between two mainstream political parties. Public opinion was hoodwinked by the gimmickries such as Prime Minister’s Programme 2010 and “Vision 2025’’ with claims to make Pakistan what they called “World Tiger.” On the contrary, the economy was put on the tailspin of secular stagnation, leading to bankruptcy. The economic environment was vitiated, so much, so that local entrepreneurs were compelled to shift their industries, mostly exports products producing ones, to South East Asian countries in the pursuit of fairly low cost energy inputs, progressive taxation regime and skilled manpower. The country slipped down several rungs on World Bank of Ease of Doing Business Index to 136 spot in 2017.
The present government has completed two years of its mandated tenure in office; however, it has not succeeded to change the regressive economic policies of the past governments the fall outs of which are persistently attributed by the leadership of main opposition party to the incumbent government. It has not yet put together its own team of economic managers, comprising capable and dedicated economists, to set the direction of the economy.
