Pakistan’s Economic Roadmap Summit

A holding company is needed to be established in order to put back all loss incurring institutions of the country within next five years. The lack of job opportunities is alarming, as majority of the country’s population is youth based (below 25 years old). The country needs to create jobs for the majority of its population on war footings, said Shaukat Tarin, Former Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs and presently Advisor to Chairman, Silk Bank Limited, while addressing Pakistan’s Economic Roadmap Summit here at a local hotel on Thursday. The one day summit was organised to discuss Pakistan’s economic woes and solutions to overcome them.
Addressing the summit, Saad Amanullah Khan, President American Business Council and Chief Executive Officer of Gillette Pakistan Limited, said good governance was the key to ensure economic growth as the improved governance leads to economic stability/growth, standard of living, liberal principles and also durable democracy. Talking about the challenges in the country, S M Muneer, President Pakistan India Chamber of Commerce and Vice Chairman, MCB Bank Limited said almost 10 million people have lost jobs in Faisalabad due to the closure of industries while over 30 per cent industrial units have been closed down in Karachi due to the energy crisis. The energy crisis and poor security in the country is also further minimising job opportunities for the youth, he added.
Humayun Bashir, Vice President OICCI and Country General Manger said there were immense opportunities in the country to accommodate the emerging youths. Only a call center training program could provide jobs to over 0.5 million people.
Nadeem Hussain, President and CEO Tameer Micro Finance Bank Limited who made his presentation on the topic of ‘Self Reliance-Myth or Reality’ said it was a myth that ‘realisation of self-reliance has become even more difficult with the passage of time’. However, the reality was that Pakistan can attain self-reliance over a period of time by implementing a strategy that aims at reducing the dependence on aid immediately and eliminating it over the time. It should emphasise on setting investment, savings, imports and export targets consistent with self-reliance, without jeopardizing the growth prospects.
Expressing his views, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, CEO, Nutshell Forum said, “The aim and objective of this conference was to provide policy makers, trade, business and academia, a roadmap with well defined milestones to jump start Pakistan’s economy. The idea is to focus on a few quick wins with a medium term plan in place to capitalise on the immense potential of this country. We are optimistic that the existence and interaction of the key economic managers of the country, young and senior businessman, chartered accountants and tax specialists, academia and students will be an ideal opportunity to come up with robust economic plan which can become a building block for the policies to be rolled out.”
Other renowned economists and financial sector experts also participated in this summit and delivered papers and presentations on ways and methods required to put the country’s economy, back on track. These included Nadeem Naqvi (Managing Director, Karachi Stock Exchange), Sirajuddin Aziz(President and CEO, Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited), Moin M Fudda (Country Director, CIPE), Majyd Aziz (Chairman, SME Bank Limited), Dr Asher Hasan (Founder and CEO, Naya Jeevan) and Amina Hashwani (President, Pakistan India CEOs Forum).