Pakistan on global stage, winds of change

Pakistan is often subjected to negative publicity by international media which severally harms its prospects of attracting foreign investors be it the trumped-up accusations of going against US interest in the region or grossly misreported cases of extremism in Pakistani society. But now things have started changing and the wider world has begun to take notice of the immense economic potential that this country has for multinational companies.

This was evident from a recent white paper by Google’s Head of Large Customer Marketing, South Asia, Lars Anthonisen in which he listed five reasons why foreign companies should invest in Pakistan. They included a rising population promising huge potential market for any product or service, burgeoning entrepreneurial scene in the country, steadily rising smartphone users, growing internet penetration and huge Chinese investment through CPEC which promises to revolutionize the IT infrastructure of country.

This is a very good news for a country desperately looking for foreign investors to avoid chronic balance of payments crisis and jump start a lagging economy. There are several factors behind the economic crisis that has marred the country for past several decades and we are getting rid of them one by one. Energy crisis has been controlled to a large extent thanks to last government’s initiatives and political landscape seems to be stable for the foreseeable future.

PTI government has time and again promised to make Pakistan prosperous with a divers and vibrant economy. There has never been a better chance. What is needed is strong political will and a comprehensive plan of action to make Pakistan a globally competitive economy. Some recent moves by current administration such as removal of Umer Saif as PITB head or allowing law and order situation in the country to worsen through inaction during recent protests suggest that it has not fully grasped the gravity of situation and efforts needed to avert it.