- Learning to welcome foreigners is key to success
By: Muniba Zaman
Talk to some people in private gatherings, and you would hear such murmurings as the Chinese are coming to Pakistan in big numbers, and one day they may buy the entire country. Others would keep raising issues like Chinese marriages with local girls which were unearthed by FIA a while ago and some would talk about the Chinese Massage Parlour as the major reason behind the Lal Masjid tragedy. It has surprised me quite often that more than 10 million Pakistani live in different countries, and even a larger number idealize these expats, and even our sitting government has a soft corner for the Pakistani diaspora. Not only this, but we all like to settle our kids abroad, which has somewhat become a craze in our society. Moreover, people often boast about being foreign passport holders, but once it comes to foreigners coming to Pakistan, we tend to behave in a jittery manner as if the sovereignty and identity of this beloved country of ours is under threat. I am surprised, why? But I can say with authority that if we want to make economic progress, we would have to infuse more tolerance into our social milieu towards foreigners visiting Pakistan and living here.
There is need for us as a society, to show inculcate some tolerance towards foreigners visiting and living in Pakistan, because they are here to earn money for us, coupled with teaching us modern techniques and transferring technologies. This will create more social harmony in Pakistan and would help us in becoming a more pluralistic society
Pakistan has seen some tragic times in past two decades, and probably, it is one of the only countries, I remember, which has been able to overcome these worst times in the recent past. The other names, which I can remember are Sri Lanka and Ethiopia. This has only been made possible due to sacrifices of Pakistani army and other law enforcement agencies, and that too at the cost of thousands of lives. Then another challenge which Pakistan has overcome in the recent past is, of the electricity loadshedding. Yes, it wasn’t easy, and still some countries as blessed as South Africa are struggling to cope with this challenge. It is high time that Pakistan must focus on rebuilding its economy, and the government has rightly taken some steps by liberalizing its visa policy. The government is also according great importance to tourism. Some other countries in the region, like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan, owe a lot to tourism in their development. The impact of tourism is quite far reaching; immediate financial gains by airlines, hotels, transportation, and allied industries, but another long-term benefit of tourism is the projection of the soft image of country. People start knowing about your country, they talk to other people, and more and more people feel ‘comfortable’ about that country. These visits result in concrete trade and investment relations with the passage of time, as no one would like to put his money in a country which is high on any risk index. Once we look at international standards, we find that high human and financial standards have played great role in making Dubai what it is today.
We could hardly see any foreigner in Pakistan during the last two or three decades. Thankfully, during the last couple of years, we can see some Chinese faces in malls and on streets, which is a great omen for our country and economy. These Chinese people are result of the CPEC and other private ventures undertaken by Chinese companies in Pakistan and some of them are here to provide support services to other companies. Chinese companies in CPEC have helped Pakistan to overcome loadshedding issues and helped build road infrastructure. Now, it is expected that in the second phase, private Chinese companies would come and start their operations in partnership with local Pakistani companies.
I am of the view that the behaviour and thought processes of any community are shaped by local laws and evolve with the passage of time. Pakistan has seen many problems being injected into its polity with the arrival of Afghans in the shape of drugs, weapons and lawlessness. Probably, that has shaped our thought process once it comes to foreigners. Foreign Direct Investment plays critical role in the development of any country and even Chinese development has also been spurred by the same phenomenon, once the US and European companies brought money and technology to China after the Economic Reforms initiated in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping.
In the current age of globalization, the openness of any country greatly affects its economic development. This openness can be a liberalized trade regime, easing out its regulatory regimes by cutting down business regulations and also social acceptability. The World Bank in a recent report has highlighted the role of Global Value Chains in economic development. The GVCs can only be formed if a country has a liberal visa regime and people find it comfortable to travel and reside there.
One can feel the warmth in the eyes of people while traversing Bali (Indonesia), Vietnam and Bangkok (Thailand). This social acceptability is somewhat prerequisite, if we have to embark upon the road to making Pakistan an economic powerhouse. Some regional countries, like the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia owe a lot to foreigners, including Pakistanis, in making their countries what they are today.
Likewise, there is need for us as a society, to show inculcate some tolerance towards foreigners visiting and living in Pakistan, because they are here to earn money for us, coupled with teaching us modern techniques and transferring technologies. This will create more social harmony in Pakistan and would help us in becoming a more pluralistic society.
