THE ‘Economic Revival Plan’ unfolded by the incumbent government on Tuesday is the right move at the right time as it has the potential to address economic woes of the country and ensure much-needed stability and sustainability. The plan launched at a high level huddle, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended also by Army Chief General Asim Munir, is focused on harnessing the country’s untapped potential in key sectors through local development and foreign investment mainly from “Gulf countries” and expediting project implementation. The government has established a ‘Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC)’ which will serve as a streamlined interface for investors and remove all the roadblocks in the path of investment with the help of the army.
The move would serve as a morale booster for the nation in the otherwise suppressed economic and political environment as it sends a positive message to the people as well as all stakeholders that the country is not clueless and has a definite direction to pursue its journey on the road to economic revival, progress and prosperity. The salient features of the plan and the modus operandi for its implementation also relay strong signals about its feasibility and time-bound progress to achieve the targeted goals. The presence of the COAS and his categorical assurance of Pakistan Army’s all-out support to complement the government’s efforts for the Economic Revival Plan, would encourage investors to make decisions without fear about security situation or continuity of the policy as envisaged under the plan which is considered fundamental to the socio-economic prosperity of Pakistanis and reclaiming Pakistan’s rightful stature among the comity of nations. This is in line with the commitment of the Pakistan Army to provide much-needed support to all important developmental initiatives in view of the peculiar security environment of the country where internal and external elements remain constantly active to undermine moves aimed at progress and welfare of the people. Pakistan Army is already providing a comprehensive security umbrella to all projects under the historic initiative of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its firm support for the new plan is understandable as it is considered to be a bigger initiative than the CPEC. The plan was launched on Tuesday but for all purposes work on its implementation has already started as is evident from the budgetary proposals for the next financial year. The plan envisages making the most of “untapped potential in key sectors of defence production, agricultural/livestock, minerals/mining, IT and energy, through indigenous development as well as investment from friendly countries” and liberal incentives have been provided to these sectors in the budget for 2023-24. The credit for preparation of an ambitious plan with special focus on its fast-track implementation goes to Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar and Minister for Planning and Development Prof. Ahsan Iqbal. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is already on a diplomatic offensive to enlist cooperation of the friendly countries in realization of the targets as envisaged in the plan. Already some deals have been formalized with some of our friends and personal rapport of the PML(N) leadership with the rulers of the Gulf countries would open up prospects for prompt and meaningful investment in different sectors of Pakistan’s economy. The potential of the plan can be gauged by the fact that it seeks to make Pakistan a trillion-dollar economy by 2035 while direct job opportunities would be provided to 15 to 20 million people and indirect job opportunities to another 75 to 100 million people in the next four to five years. Such a situation would help address the issue of disillusionment of the youth about their future and the resultant brain-drain. It is also claimed that the project will generate exports of $70 billion and “import substitution” of equal amount in the next four to five years besides increasing Pakistan’s foreign direct investment by $100 billion. This would be an ideal situation as the country would be able to reduce its dependence on costly foreign loans. The Foreign Office and the Board of Investment have a special role in marketing the game-changer plan and the new Council headed by the Prime Minister would live up to expectations in removing hurdles in the way of attracting investment and that too at a time when investors are leaving Pakistan because of increased cost of production and doing business as well as curbs on imports necessitated by the foreign exchange crunch.
