The government is apparently refusing to turn the country into a trade hub of the region. The world economists, financial experts and trade bodies have been screaming for the last many years that all the economic indicators are in Pakistan’s favour and it has the potential to become an Asian tiger, but the country’s policymakers are seemingly in no mood to lend ears to the voices of reasons. The country is facing rising trade deficit, ever-increasing loans, and the most dangerous law and order situation, but development of the economy is not in the priority list of the people at the helm of affairs. Almost every tax policy, every trade policy and every finance policy is a failure in this country due to the fact that all the policies contain the burden of anomalies in them by default. The failures start from the beginning and show how much incapable and shortsighted are our policymakers. The policies turn the rules and regulations into paraffin wax in the hands of the authorities to mold them at the whims of their paranoia. As a result, the policies bring disaster to the national economy and are abandoned with the passage of time.
According to a renowned western diplomat, Pakistanis are poor by choice. The world’s best minds live in this country, but they are not put on the operational mod. It is the government which has to give direction to the economy and advice to the people for the progress of the nation. But every government policy proves to be a stumbling block in the way of development. As a result, the nation is still groping in the dark not knowing where to go while the countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam are progressing by leaps and bounds. All the progress made by Pakistan is due to individual efforts, but there is a need to encourage collective approach to bring the nation out of self-made troubles. The latest showdown between the government and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf was the wastage of time and wastage of money. It shows how myopic are our political leaders and how simpleton are those who follow them.
If the government and the opposition seriously believe in prosperity of the nation, they should work in tendon instead of settling scores with one another. The geographical location of Pakistan is the prize from the heaven and it needs to be exploited for the development of the economy. The government should adopt progressive and proactive approach and the opposition should support it for the cause of the nation.