Over eight million Pakistani community members across the globe are usually credited for their financial remittances and generous donations during national hard times. Little though is projected about their profile as source of inspiration back home and as transmitters of intangible remittances of ideas, values, beliefs, and practices. Even their overwhelming potential for financial direct and portfolio investments, market development, technology transfer and tourism has yet to be tapped. The expatriate community has not been effectively utilised for lobbying or image building, though the latter continues on its own. The goal of availing their massive size and diversity of talent as strong socio-political constituency for country’s development remains a stated objective waiting to be achieved.
In Pakistan their sterling roles in resident countries have rejuvenated desire to improve systems and standard of governance within the country. There is hope that the inflow of ideas and practices as well as inspiration might help the country to an extent to achieve economic stability and needed goodness in governance.
The Pakistani community members abroad have been eager to be of help to their motherland in all manners. The youngest generation of Pakistanis, though sometimes without deeper social linkages, has emotional attachment with the country of their parents and grandparents.
Today countries consider ‘diaspora capital’ as key plank of their vision for economic recovery. However the goal of harnessing the potential of NRPs’ intellectual resource continues to elude us. Attempts in the past for crafting viable policy and modalities to engage expatriate community in a social contract under which the government can benefit from their financial, technical and intellectual resources have been falling short of being finalised and implemented. The incentive packages in the past were not able serve their purpose in the absence of workable mechanisms. Despite narrative of “most liberal investment regime” the task of institutionalising investments by overseas Pakistanis is only a part of wish list. We are without a database of overseas Pakistanis, and statistics on investment from expatriate community are almost non-existent though on their own initiative overseas Pakistanis have made investments in infrastructure, services and manufacturing and other sectors.
The Pakistan Muslim League (N) government has been quite receptive to addressing the problems of overseas Pakistanis and has been according importance to the role and potential of Pakistani diaspora in economic development. In 1999 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took the initiative of convening a convention of overseas Pakistanis under the theme of ‘New Role of Overseas Pakistanis’. Useful decisions and valuable recommendations including investment by overseas Pakistanis in different sectors were taken in the three-day event. But the process was aborted due to the turn political developments took in October of that year. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resumed efforts right after assuming charge in the current stint. A grand convention of overseas Pakistanis is scheduled for December 2017 after protracted hiatus of 18 years. An Advisory Committee composed of prominent overseas Pakistanis from Middle East, North America and Europe is also being formed. With a term of three years, the Committee would provide proposals on a range of issues relating to overseas Pakistanis. For the first time in country’s history Overseas Pakistan Foundation (OPF)’s Board of Directors is headed by an expatriate Pakistani.
In April 2014 Punjab’s Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif organised first ever provincial convention of overseas Pakistanis in Lahore on the occasion of establishment of an Overseas Pakistanis Commission in the province. Launched mainly to resolve problems of overseas Pakistanis, the Commission is mandated to enable overseas Pakistanis to interact with relevant officials in Pakistan by informing about their experiences and opportunities abroad for possible collaboration.
China presents one of the best models of alluring persons of their origin to invest in their homeland through concessional taxes, lesser regulation and fewer stringent labour laws. The Chinese government strengthened the links with its overseas population by presenting achievement awards and legislating laws to protect rights and interests of overseas Chinese. Countries including Thailand and Ireland attracted their overseas nationals by offering incentive packages for research and employment in projects of national importance. A number of countries have re-established links with their expatriate countrymen through external voting in order to give them voice in policy formation pertaining to safeguards in foreign countries and in strengthening democratic institutions in their home countries.
As Pakistani expatriate community constitutes influential group in the constituencies of their adopted countries and some of them have made their way into local bodies and parliaments, they can effectively employ their influence in modulating the political and economic policies of host governments to the advantage of Pakistan. Similarly, the community members abroad have a crucial role in offsetting unfavourable depiction of our society. Pakistani emigrants have earned laurels from host governments in several fields. There is only a need to chalk out a diaspora strategy to use them as active agents of smart power by including them in public diplomacy initiatives.
The governments in Pakistan have been more focused on remedying the problems of overseas Pakistanis and facilitating their recruitments in the Middle East and elsewhere. This task is equally important, but it is also time we thought about using our strong expatriate arm by utilising all dimensions of their potential. The imperatives including creation of a database of overseas Pakistanis and revisiting OPF’s charter should not be delayed any more. Side by side, the government should continue its efforts to find ways of granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and counting them in national census. Overseas Pakistanis are ever ready to bring ideas, professional expertise and financial investment to Pakistan provided the government offers conducive and incentivised environment. Once the government takes ownership of required measures the overseas Pakistanis will develop trust in the country of their heritage and would surely partner with the government in achieving targets of economic development set in its Vision 2025.
