Pakistanis to Remit Extra $10 Billion for Post-Floods Reconstruction?

[DGMO]

Yours is a defeatist attitude. If everyone thought like you, there would be no change and no progress anywhere in the world, including Pakistan.

Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund, who happens to be Chris Anderson's wife, spoke at TEDx Karachi earlier this year with an urgent call for action. She asked, "If not now, when? If not us, who?" As an example, she mentioned the work of Tasneem Siddiqui in "Khuda Ki Basti", a low-cost housing project to deal with the housing crunch from growing rural-to-urban migration in Karachi, and the second similar project now underway in Lahore.

Each of us needs to light a candle to spread the light, rather than curse darkness.

Haq's Musings: Light a Candle, Don't Curse Darkness

I disagree. If everyone thought like me, this complacent sham of a 'government' might actually think about governance - you know, the reason why they're meant to be there.

There is no change in governance, things continue to get worse, and we're being asked to help and invest. Well, that's not going to happen like it used to.

Charity begins at home, and I've helped my cousins and family friends with zakaat and help towards the flood damage.

But just on the weekend a friend of mine was telling me he's pulling his lot out from Pakistan. I'm not the only one, alot of people I've spoken to just cannot contain their disillusionment with this administration.

It's all well and good going with the positive attitude, but people are reluctantly turning their backs on Pakistan. Just a reality following the past 2 years of rubbish they've witnessed.

It's not being defeatist, it's a response to those that refuse to allow positive change and actions.

I've lit my candle many a time, you should ask the Govt why they keep blowing out that flame.

 

[ice_man]

I don't think the primary purpose of remittances by overseas Pakistanis should be to seek any benefits for the remitters. It should really be focused on giving back to the country that gave us the opportunities with education to make a better living for ourselves.

As to stock investments, Pakistan has produced much better results over the last decade and higher ROIs than the vast majority of other countries, including the so-called BRIC nations.

One way to use extra remittances is to invest in infrastructure reconstruction projects like power, water and toll roads to produce a good return through privately managed country funds.

Haq's Musings: Karachi Tops Mumbai in Stock Performance

people remit money to their FAMILY!!! not to the government! so people should stop acting like they are doing it for the country!!

secondly pakistanis feel their job ends when they send their money to their families! they have done enough for pakistan!!

what is the need of the hour BE AN AMBASSADOR to your country!! MAKE YOURSELF SO GREAT THAT PEOPLE ASK YOU WHERE YOU FROM!?? and you answer PAKISTAN SIR!

be ambanis,tata's,mittals! nelson mandelas of your country!!

currently pakistanis are Bonnie & Clyde! and Al Capon's of the world!

PAKISTAN'sBIGGEST ENEMY IS PAKISTANIS!

 

[Meengla]

I agree with Riaz's position: There is a lot that can be done via NGOs. And Pakistani are doing a lot. But in a country where less than 5% (may be only 1%?) pay taxes putting everything on the government to do is unfair.
This govt. inherited a mess. A dire security situation. And yet Pakistan was on track to grow at 4% GDP until the Floods hit.
Riaz, keep on your good work!

 

[DGMO]

This govt. inherited a mess.

I'm sure most Pakistani's would take that 'mess' over the state of affairs created by this current 'administration' in July 210 (pre-flood). I know Pakistani's I talk to would.

Wouldn't it be great if this Govt did something about the tax mess? Politicians revealed their true sources of income, wealth and amount of income tax to pay like one MNA did recently? Set the standards on transparency?

As ice_man stated, when I'm helping to lift X amount of family members out of poverty back in Pakistan, I feel not only that I've done my duty, but I'm proud of my duty.

When our head of state is prancing about in French chateaus, then the credibility to ask us 'to do more' is shot down in an instance.

 

[Isaq Khan]

Members of Pakistani diaspora must remember their compatriots in distress as we celebrate Eid today.

While there have been high-profile recent efforts by overseas Pakistanis to raise millions of dollars to fund rescue and relief efforts after the recent devastating floods, it is now time to begin to shift focus on to the much longer term and significantly more expensive reconstruction phase that will requires billions, not millions, of dollars.

World Bank economist Sanket Mohapatra has said in a recent post that remittances by overseas Pakistanis have played a significant role in Pakistan's economic improvement. Not only have such remittances contributed to significant poverty reduction in Pakistan "by an impressive 17.3 percentage points between 2001 and 2008 (from 34.5 percent in 2001-02 to 17.2 percent in 2007-08)", but "continued strong growth in worker’s remittances in the past few years has also contributed to improvements in the external current account balance” and “have facilitated improvement in the country’s external position”, according to a World Bank report released on July 30, 2010.

World Bank's Mohaptra adds that "there is now a risk that devastating floods that have hit Pakistan, killing more than 1,200 people and leaving 2 million people homeless, could reverse some of the gains in poverty achieved in the last few years, which were already believed to have been weakened in the wake of the recent financial crisis and rise in food prices. During past natural disasters, migrants have sent additional remittances to help their families and friends in need – for example, during the Pakistan earthquake in 2005, in Philippines after typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in 2009, after an earthquake in Haiti in early 2010, and in other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is likely that the Pakistani diaspora will send additional financial resources to help their family, friends and even larger communities. These person-to-person transfers could complement official aid efforts".

The cost and the task of post-flood reconstruction may appear to be monumental, but I feel confident that global Pakistani community is equal to it. Already, non-resident Pakistanis have been sending home nearly ten billion US dollars a year in remittances to their home country. And their invested assets are estimated to be in hundreds of billions of US dollars in different parts of the world. I believe Pakistani diaspora can double their remittances in the next twelve months, thereby boosting Pakistan's overall economy by a $10 billion stimulus for reconstruction.

If a significant part of this additional $10 billion in remittances goes into special, professionally managed, investment funds specifically for post-floods reconstruction and rehabilitation, it will be an even greater boost to Pakistan's overall economy. To put it in perspective, the $10 billion in a year would be 5 times the annual foreign aid, and twice the peak FDI Pakistan received in 2007, the last year of healthy economic growth in 2007-2008.

Haq's Musings: Can Global Pakistanis Invest $10 Billion in Post-Floods Reconstruction?

So, in other words you wanna say that pakistan don't need any support, aid or donations??

And pakistan should retiurn all the money as you single handedly handle this situation?

Then why spread so much panic all over the world about people dying and 20 millions of homeless etc.??????

 

[RiazHaq]

So, in other words you wanna say that pakistan don't need any support, aid or donations??

And pakistan should retiurn all the money as you single handedly handle this situation?

Then why spread so much panic all over the world about people dying and 20 millions of homeless etc.??????

Pakistan is not any poorer than its neighbors..in fact, Pakistan has far less poverty (17%) than India (estimated to be 42% by UNDP), according to WB latest report released on July 30, 2010.

And I see no shame in seeking international help for the flood affected Pakistanis. In fact, it would be shameful and inhumane to let the people suffer out of the kind of false pride that hurts the poorest of the poor Indians next door, 7000 of whom die of hunger every day under "normal" conditions.

 

[Sinnerman108]

Riaz ; Ice man and co

For all this writing etc

Instead of writing why don't you try to stop the government from stealing the money ?

Leave the supply to us, we will make sure money keeps coming in, you make sure it doesn't leave the country.
The auditor general's office is on the constitution avenue and next to PTCL's office in H9 Isl.

no point in trying to fill a bucket with a huge hole in it.

 

[RiazHaq]

I'm sure most Pakistani's would take that 'mess' over the state of affairs created by this current 'administration' in July 210 (pre-flood). I know Pakistani's I talk to would.

Wouldn't it be great if this Govt did something about the tax mess? Politicians revealed their true sources of income, wealth and amount of income tax to pay like one MNA did recently? Set the standards on transparency?

As ice_man stated, when I'm helping to lift X amount of family members out of poverty back in Pakistan, I feel not only that I've done my duty, but I'm proud of my duty.

When our head of state is prancing about in French chateaus, then the credibility to ask us 'to do more' is shot down in an instance.

I don't have much expectations from the current government in Pakistan. but I still have great hopes in the people of Pakistan.

There are several fundamental positive trends in Pakistan that are often overlooked by the daily media grind.

Pakistan is urbanizing faster and has a bigger middle class than its neighbors. ...it's on its way to becoming an urban middle class society in the next decade. Such a society will limit the excesses of the elites, and be more conducive to better governance and accountability in a democracy.

 

[niaz]

`I have been living abroad since 1977; I have remitted substantial amounts to Pakistan during the thirty odd years since. I didn’t do it for any reward or to expect any special treatment in return. Like millions of expatriate Pakistanis, I did it so that my retired parents could live in relative comfort and to help out my close relations in major expenses such as marriages, buying a house or education of their kids.

My only complaint is that I have seen poorest section of the expatriate community; laborers in the Gulf countries; treated like dirt and cheated out of the money earned thru hard labor by PIA staff, air port customs and the police.

Another dangerous recent trend is that children of well to do Pakistani expatriates are kidnapped when they are visiting home and only released after payment of hundreds of thousand rupees in ransom. Heard that this trend is on the increase because occasionally political workers of the party in power are involved and local police act as informers for the kidnappers.

A Chartered Accountant friend of mine was advised by his family (They are from Saanda Khurd in Lahore) not to bring his two teen age kids to Pakistan. They were afraid these kids could be a victim of “kidnapping for ransom’ scam.

Neither I nor any other of my expatriate friends want any favors for sending foreign exchange back home. All we want is that law an order is restored in Pakistan so that we are not afreaid of being blown up or harassed when we visit our beloved country.