What will we write home about?
Nawaz Sharif had three interests in visiting Davos. He wanted to appraise the new UN Sec Gen of the gravity of Kashmir situation and persuade him to play a role in resolving the issue. He wanted to meet leaders of major countries to seek economic cooperation and political support. He met leaders of the business community for investments.
Talking to UN Sec Gen, Nawaz Sharif highlighted the plight of Kashmiri people, the attempts by Pakistan to resolve the issue with India through talks and the latter’s obduracy. He called on the Sec Gen to implement the relevant UN resolutions to settle the dispute. Guteress lent him a patient ear, praised Pakistan Army’s role in UN peace keeping missions but made no commitment on Kashmir besides noting that it was a sensitive issue.
Sharif met whatever world leader had time to hold talks with him. President Xi being a busy international leader was not available. The meetings with others were little more than photo-ops. There was no concrete outcome of talks with Swiss President, Queen of Netherlands and Prime Ministers of Norway, Sweden and Sri Lanka.
If the idea behind meeting various business magnates was to seek investments, the outcome was zero. Bill Gates focused during the talks on polio control, hoping that Pakistan would be polio free in 2017. Nothing came out of meetings with the CEOs of Standard and Chartered Bank and Procter and Gamble. Nawaz Sharif addressed businessmen at a private dinner hosted by Abraaj Group where he invited them to “take benefit of the economic revival of Pakistan.” Except for Jack Ma of Alibaba Group who expressed interest in an e-commerce platform in Pakistan, there were no promises.
Nawaz Sharif’s team of the managers of national economy need to remove the hurdles that discourage investors instead of issuing vague assurances that few investors are willing to trust. Cost of doing business remains a major disincentive. Bureaucratic hurdles and corruption are others. As long as these exist, few would dare to invest in Pakistan.