ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday asked international donors for enhanced markets access for Pakistani goods saying serious economic challenges confronting the country could not be overcome through aid alone.
Addressing the Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) participants at a dinner, the prime minister said, “For Pakistan, its people and its democratic government, development remains an overwhelming strategic priority.”
“The PDF affords a useful platform for in-depth deliberations between Pakistan and its development partners, on the entire spectrum of issues concerning our national development paradigm,” he said, adding, “Revival of Pakistan’s economy is dependent on improvement in internal and external security caused by terrorism and the resolution of the energy crisis in the short term.”
“It will require substantive investment in these areas as well as in development of trade corridors, improving agricultural outputs and social sectors,” he said. Gilani said some of Pakistan’s development challenges were structural and the government had made good progress in addressing structural problems like the issue of provincial autonomy.
“Other challenges faced by Pakistan are process-oriented. Our education system has been steadily by-passed by the private sector, and we have not invested as heavily as we need to. We must fix both processes and structures, to build Pakistani institutions that our children can benefit from,” the prime minister said.
“Perhaps most importantly, as we improve the overall governance, we need to ensure that private enterprise has a chance to shine. It is only through job creation by the entrepreneurs that we will be able to take advantage of Pakistan’s enormous demographic advantages,” he said.
“Today we live in a globalised world with our shared sorrows and happiness. Nations cannot prosper in isolation and need to share and support one another for equitable socio-economic development,” he said. He said, “We have our collective stake in future and it must be our earnest effort to ensure a peaceful and prosperous life for our succeeding generations.”
Gilani said, “The challenge of development cannot be realised through aid alone. We seek mutually beneficial partnerships.” “We seek growth which is holistic, sustained and all-encompassing,” he said.
“Trade and market access are the centre piece of our vision for a peaceful, prosperous and progressive Pakistan. This explains why I have been advocating the theme of “trade not aid” during my interactions with the world leaders,” he said.
