Why nobody invests in Pakistan?

[Maravan]

In india who would dare to talk about his billions in swiss banks ?
you?

If Modi had billions in swiss bank, congress would have released the swiss account details before the elections itself, to take a dig on Modi..

 

[Jzaib]

Modi only has 1.5 crore assets with no business to take care

thats is whyt i always take him as a honest and hardworking terrorist .

Because imran khan os not PM na ?

which imran khan are u referring too. U are also imran khan .. im sure ur parents were fan of imran khan that is why they name him after him.

U know that is true ... common tell me ...

 

[Maravan]

thats is whyt i always take him as a honest and hardworking terrorist .


which imran khan are u referring too. U are also imran khan .. im sure ur parents were fan of imran khan that is why they name him after him.

U know that is true ... common tell me ...

Indian court already given modi a clean chit. Moreover if required Indian judicial system is powerful enough to throw out and imprison a ruling powerful CM of a state like Jayalalitha.

 

[ajpirzada]

Would you invest here?

Nadeem ul Haque
Thursday, September 11, 2014

Whether there is a dharna, a flood, or a leaky faucet, ‘analysts’ are quick to point out their economic consequences. When the floods of 2010 happened, the finance minister would sing the story of how Pakistan had suffered and the donors loved it.

Their doleful expressions and our FM’s heartbreaking story (meant to cover our policy failures) outdid Hollywood pathos in real time. Some donors actually pushed us toward the hyperbolic as their business thrives on the country’s misery. Of course all the government wanted was more money to alleviate the pressure of hard policy decisions.

Now again we are counting the economic impact of the ongoing dharnas – ranging from Rs300 to Rs600 billion. Again all manner of hyperbole is being used to estimate this cost. With nominal GDP at about Rs25 trillion, output per day is about Rs68 billion.

The recent political shenanigans have lasted about 20 days. If the whole country stopped working for 20 days the total cost would be about Rs1.3 trillion. Think about it: a few thousand people holding a circus in Islamabad – what percentage of national output could they affect? Maybe two percent at best! Could it be over 50 percent as some of these estimates imply?

Then there are those who say that somehow these events have increased the political risks and hence are going to hold up investment. Once again the desire to read the crystal ball and pronounce daily forecasts. I am sure many donor consultants will produce reports to justify such thinking.

One way to think about investment and growth is to look at the global competitiveness report that has just come out. This report was prepared before the dharnas and hence measures the state of the economy before the protests.

Would you invest in a country that ranks at 133 out of 148 with 1 being the best? If you look beneath the headline number, you find that in terms of property rights this country ranks number 123. Is your investment safe?

Look further and you find that in terms of ‘violence and crime’ the ranking is even closer to the bottom at about 140 out of 148.

How is the government responding to this situation? Well it seems nepotism prevails – we rank 130 in that. Moreover the government’s wastefulness ranking is at 116. And it provides a legal framework for business that ranks at about 112.

What about the macroeconomic environment and macroeconomic policy? Well, on the average of five indicators charted, this country ranks at 127.

Even in health Pakistan beats many African countries in terms of malaria and tuberculosis and their impact on the economy.

On primary education quality and enrolment, the country ranks at 116 and 137. The story does not change when we look at higher education. Students are being very poorly prepared for a highly competitive global business environment.

Markets are poorly developed with a weak regulatory regime and not favourable to competition. Entry into markets is not easy with high costs of setting up business. Most surprisingly the country ranks in the 130s on tariffs and trade.

Corporate governance does not look good with the efficacy of corporate boards at a ranking of 123 and delegation of authority at 122.

If you are already losing interest and saying ‘this is easy, no one should invest here’ you will be right. And this indeed is what both local and foreign investors are, and have been, saying for many years. Domestic investment has averaged 14 percent of GDP here and foreign investment has averaged $1.6 billion.

This is the picture of Pakistan as it emerges from the very respectable Global Competitiveness Report.

No short dharnas will change this trend. Nor will investor conferences, foreign visits and government pronouncements. Global rankings are available for all countries including Pakistan. All countries are being measured all the time. Investors – both Pakistani and others – are very sophisticated and go where the economy looks attractive as measured by such rankings.

Changing a country’s ranking requires sustained good policy and reforms by a committed government. Reacting to the event of the day is mere crisis management. Perhaps it is time the government got to serious work – building an economy with property rights, effective government, a market friendly legal and regulatory system, an open and competitive economy, a modern corporate culture, and an education system for the 21st century. Commentators also need to get away from daily crystal ball gazing and hourly pronouncements of aid to look at how to build an economy.

So when you see a donor consultant report quoting absurd figures for the cost of some recent event like a dharna or a Memogate, remember there are better uses of time and paper. Pakistan has not yet built a modern economy and no economy turns on a dime.

I dream of the day parliament will debate these rankings and determine a way out. Perhaps then debates would be more meaningful and less personal and contentious.

As a footnote we did try with the framework of economic growth, but the donor-finance minister dance of funding and consultant reports was too distracting.

The writer is former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

Email: nhaque_imf@yahoo.com

Twitter: @nadeemhaque

Would you invest here? - Nadeem ul Haque

 

[SBD-3]

this supplements my point.

KPK govt is also recipient of aid from DFID...

 

[Developereo]

lol the brits and their AID propaganda. They would have you believe the whole world runs on it, never mind our billion $$ in bailout for them.

The propaganda is aimed at the lower classes in British society to alleviate their daily drudgery of life, and to make them feel good about themselves -- for a while -- by telling them that, despite all their daily problems, they live in mighty Great Britain which

a) is upholding the white man's burden to help the darkies
b) even though the darkies don't appreciate the help and don't deserve it

This way, the lower class schmuck who complains about paying too much tax and not having enough income, has someone far away to blame, instead of the domestic corporate welfare and other economic factors.

 

[Cheetah786]

This is why #GoNawazGo

WTF does this has to do with investment, as far as AIDS is concerned. Most Recycled politicians that are now part of PTI were one time or another taking that money and putting it in Swiss banks.

#Go Leader GO#

 

[Kambojaric]

Political Instability, electricity shortage and terrorism.

 

[Leader]

Gold worth Rs35 bn smuggled out of Pakistan

Political Instability, electricity shortage and terrorism.

 

[batmannow]

you're not pm?


tell imran to bring his kids in pakistan

Kids are more important than wealth


many things were left unstable, not just image

Ridiclious post & thinking?
best answer could be come back from dam canada then say something ?

but chinese are killing p....... you know and ,,,,,(Muslims in western province...pak being the savior of Muslims globally... except India where Shia, sunni , ahmedis and other sect of Muslim live in peace with each other)

In india they all get butchered by modI, chirstans, shia, s , ahmedis, sunnis?
no body gives a flying **** about it, cauze every thing is in control, means bussiness as normal, china does have few problems but been settled quit nicly, till now cauze china & pakistani relationship has trust & deep knowledge about each others doing, mostly structured as join ventures!
so I guss your knowledge about pakistan is too short?

 

[batmannow]

If Modi had billions in swiss bank, congress would have released the swiss account details before the elections itself, to take a dig on Modi..

Before they done that, details of thier accounts would have reached on the top, with higher amounts in thier accounts, for dollers they trust each others well? Lolzz

 

[Brickwall]

Would you invest here?

Nadeem ul Haque
Thursday, September 11, 2014

Whether there is a dharna, a flood, or a leaky faucet, ‘analysts’ are quick to point out their economic consequences. When the floods of 2010 happened, the finance minister would sing the story of how Pakistan had suffered and the donors loved it.

Would you invest here? - Nadeem ul Haque

This sentence says all , we have seen successive government in Pakistan crying for more aid to develop instead of finding ways for investment, in PDF also many of Pakistan colleagues instead of discussing the ways to tackle corruption, poverty ... etc are discussing the merits of military vs democracy.

From this i don't want to say, india is free of many vices , but we are at least started discussing.

 

[Arya Desa]

The propaganda is aimed at the lower classes in British society to alleviate their daily drudgery of life, and to make them feel good about themselves -- for a while -- by telling them that, despite all their daily problems, they live in mighty Great Britain which

a) is upholding the white man's burden to help the darkies
b) even though the darkies don't appreciate the help and don't deserve it

This way, the lower class schmuck who complains about paying too much tax and not having enough income, has someone far away to blame, instead of the domestic corporate welfare and other economic factors.

Sooo true.

 

[WishLivePak]

Ridiclious post & thinking?
best answer could be come back from dam canada then say something ?


In india they all get butchered by modI, chirstans, shia, s , ahmedis, sunnis?
no body gives a flying **** about it, cauze every thing is in control, means bussiness as normal, china does have few problems but been settled quit nicly, till now cauze china & pakistani relationship has trust & deep knowledge about each others doing, mostly structured as join ventures!
so I guss your knowledge about pakistan is too short?

Yes I'll come back when I'm done with studies. What are you doing though? How about you learn some English. It'll beneficial to you, this forum and Pakistan.

 

[Norwegian]

Yes I'll come back when I'm done with studies. What are you doing though? How about you learn some English. It'll beneficial to you, this forum and Pakistan.

Nice to hear you will return after finishing studies. You are a true patriot.

Pakistani Leaders must first start by investing in Pakistan. Lead by example.