Framework for Economic Growth, Pakistan - Planning Commission

International conference on “Framework for Economic Growth, Pakistan”DiscussionDiscussant: Arshad ZuberiChief Executive, Business RecorderThe topic is connecting to compete and Iwould like to start by telling you that thereused to be tea houses and restaurants nearthe ministerial and Civil Servant enclave inKarachi and Lahore where poets, writers,journalists and government functionariesused to sit and share ideas on a variety ofnational issues. Communication of conceptsand ideas can be regarded as diffusionsimilarly as particles of perfume are spreadin a room. Pakistan needs an incrementalintellectual growth. Social connectivitybetween the middle class and the decisionmakers has suffered in Pakistan in the past.Civil Servants, khaki and white collars thatused to come from middle class are now partof the upper elite. With this change thegovernment funds are shifted from socialsector to the defense and infrastructure asdesired by the elite. The British were veryproud of their services as they introducedpostal services, railways and connectedmany states of the British India. In Pakistanwe have NLC which has containerized cargoservices whereas train cargo share hasdecreased to less than 5% in Pakistan.Pakistan Railways last year carried the samenumber of passengers and less freight whichit did in 1955; while Pakistan’s populationhas increased seven folds. In public sectororganization we would find many otherexamples of inefficiency due to whichconnectivity has suffered.There is need to develop national tradecorridor to connect people and goods forservicing business efficiency. We also needto ease the visa processes with our neighborsand other countries for easy movement.There is need to improve rail and roadconnectivity along with connectivity fromfarm to market. We also need to improveinter and intra-city connectivity. We alsoneed to connect both physically and socially.***Discussant: Shaukat Hameed KhanFormer Member Planning CommissionMr. Amer Durrani (Sector coordinator forTrade Logistics, Transport, and Customs;World Bank) did an excellent job andcovered a wide spectrum of things and weneeded some more time from him to expandsome other themes. I would like to tell thatmangoes are being exported in large numberthese days and have become expensive.Such a large number of exports are becauseof another reason which is internaltechnology transfer and another type ofconnectivity to link with exports. WithHorticulture Development Board andPakistan Atomic Energy CommissionAuthority working together the shelve life ofmangoes has been increased to 80 days.We have example of USA before us. Theyworked on productivity, physicalconnectivity, and social connectivity. In1905, USA had only 3000 vehicles and 100kilometers paved roads. It took hundredyears to become an industrial giant. It isimportant that physical environment mustconform to the needs of the time. When wetalk about information technology we find70