Suchergebnisse

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalam-o-Alaikum and Good Morning It is a privilege to be in your midst
today in the Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Pakistan
Society of Development Economists. This is the fourth time in my seven
years of public life here that I have the opportunity of interacting
with such a distinguished gathering of economists, academicians, and
scholars at this forum. I cannot help but think about my first
interaction with this gathering 7 years ago. It was the 15th AGM of PSDE
in November 1999. I had assumed responsibility as Finance Minister a few
weeks ago and I took the opportunity to present a roadmap to this very
audience. I am happy to return today to tell you what we have been able
to achieve, the challenges we face and our plans for the future. I
expect you—the research community— to help us in preparing better
policies to support the progress that we have made so far. The
economists present here know the story of our progress intimately so I
will not go into any details. You would recall that seven years ago, our
country was in the middle of a major crisis. Our economy was in dire
straits. The state of governance left much to be desired. We were also
isolated with mounting tensions on our borders. We have come a long way
since then!

It is a real privilege to be in the midst of such an august
gathering for the fourth time in six years. Last night as I was
preparing my remarks to come here I could not help but think about my
first interaction in this very hotel in Islamabad six years ago. It was
the 15th AGM of PSDE where in November 1999, I had been in the office
for a few weeks, I took this opportunity to present a road map to this
very audience. We have come a long way since November 1999. As I
reflected last night, six years ago it was a very daunting, exciting and
a very stimulating thought process. Six years ago the country was faced
with many challenges. Today, we are also faced with challenges but
different challenges. Six years ago we were in crisis management rather
then economic management. Today we are in a different plane and heading
towards a different destination. In my remarks six years ago I talked
about the need for good governance, the need for structural reforms and
the need for raising the quality of people we have engaged, i.e.,
increasing the human capital of the country and improving it. I do not
want to spend too much time on where we were six years ago except to say
that the country was in a debt trap, and we were living from crisis to
crisis. We were in a balance of payment situation where the situation
was precarious, our credit rating was off the charts, creditors were
chasing us to be paid. I remember entering the MoF office every morning
and suppliers, mostly foreigners, chasing us as to when we will be paid.
So we were in technical default and so on and so forth. The fund
programme was going from tranche to tranche. Why did a sovereign state
of 150 million people end up the way it did six years ago and we still
have a lot of work to do. We also had issues like IPP's impacting the
investment climate in the country. We had a lot of litigation going as a
result the deficits were huge and growing. Overall situation look
challenging. At that time I had talked about the need for
reforms.

Ladies and Gentlemen: It is my pleasure and honour to address
the distinguished gathering of economists, social scientists,
intellectuals and renowned personalities from within and outside the
country on the occasion of the 19th Annual General Meeting of the
Society. This has become an important event in Pakistan where economists
and social scientists sit together and deliberate on various issues
facing developing economies in general and Pakistan's economy in
particular. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)
deserves our appreciation for holding such a conference on a regular
basis. In fact, I have been using this platform for the last four years
to apprise the nation about the progress we have been making on the
economic front and about the policies we have been pursuing. I intend to
do the same today.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The 18th Annual General Meeting of the
Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) is taking place at an
opportune time. The country has witnessed a smooth transition to
democracy. There is now an elected government in place, fully charged
with enthusiasm to improve the life of the common man by building a
strong and vibrant economy. While we are in the process of finalising
our economic agenda for the next five years, we would certainly welcome
suggestions for improving the country's economy from this august
gathering. Knowledge is not the exclusive wisdom of the people at the
helm of affairs. Some of the best brains in economics and other social
sciences are participating in this conference and will be deliberating
on various aspects of Pakistan's economy for the next three days. I
shall be looking forward to receiving their recommendations.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: The 17th Annual General
Meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) is
taking place at a critical juncture of our economic history. The events
of September 11 have changed the complexion of the global economy.
Global economic prospects appear grim, at least, in the short-run.
Developed and developing countries are witnessing their economic growth
reduced or even turned negative owing to the slowdown in the global
economy. Growth in international trade during 2001 may undergo one of
the severest deceleration in modern times. As 2001 closed and a new year
began some two weeks ago, the global economy is now balanced
precariously between recession and recovery. Although the full impact of
September 11 events is still to realised and evaluated, it has
nevertheless, unleashed new and unpredictable forces that have
substantially raised the risk of global downturn. Being the part of the
global economy and that it has placed itself at the epicentre of global
events, Pakistan has once again been thrust into the role of a front
line state. Whatever happens to the global economy is bound to create
temporary difficulties for Pakistan's economy as well. But at the same
time, Pakistan is also witnessing the openings of several opportunities
to strengthen its economy. The challenge before us is two fold: how to
minimise the loss caused by the temporary difficulties and how to
position ourselves to translate the openings of opportunities into real
gains for the country.

Contends that education and eliminating poverty can lead to elimination of indiscriminate violence and that terrorism seeks legitimacy from religion, based largely on Pakistan's experience.