The recent hijack drama may have been a bad joke gone horribly wrong, but its ramifications are a good example of how sentiment matters. Not only did the carrier and passengers lose in terms of time and money, but subsequent headlines did no favours to our national image in international circles, where investor decisions are crucial to our immediate survival. For the type of investors Islamabad wishes, rather needs, to engage, front-page headlines in The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal hold significant value. And since Pakistan has made for consistently bad press for a prolonged period of time, it is little surprise that investors remain shy.
From the habitat of terrorism to a convicted prime minister, institutions at cross purposes, Bhoja crash, terror attacks, failing economy, hijack scares – it’s a surprise the economy is functioning at all. Yet the stock market is locked in a stellar bull run, with its occasional retracements of course. How much that reflects sound fundamentals and just how much it exposes weak regulation is another debate, but there’s no denying it’s a high-paying playing field begging for serious investment. The matter of marketing this potential should be given far more serious thought in Islamabad than seems the case.
It is unfortunate that media arms of both civil and military institutions have failed to present a truer account of their recent endeavours than the world has been made witness to. The less said about state media the better, true, especially since it refuses to learn from past mistakes, and remains engaged in rubbishing all things opposition instead of building a positive narrative around itself. Truly a place where the more things change, the more they remain the same, musical chairs and all. The need to change course has never been more urgent. An essential pillar of state with little constructive ability is not much good at all.