LAHORE: Iftikhar Ali Malik, president of the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that trade and investment should be the determining factors for achieving Pakistan’s development goals rather than aid flows.
On Thursday, he made the case that aid would initially stifle and ultimately obliterate prospects for economic growth in a country while speaking to a delegation of industrialists and traders led by Momin Ali Malik, a member of the executive committee of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Aid debilitates
Additionally, “aid debilitates a nation that tries to stand on its own two feet and makes its recipients tremendously dependent on the donors and aid agencies. Unfortunately, Pakistan has experienced exactly that.
He emphasized that the massive amounts of foreign aid that Pakistan had requested since its inception to meet its development needs had more negative effects than positive ones.
“The country has been relying more on foreign assistance and other capital inflows, such as foreign remittances, than on foreign trade and investment to meet the needs of development and achieve economic growth.”
The president of the Saarc chamber emphasized that those in charge of the nation’s affairs must take immediate action and make sincere efforts to address the serious situation.
He said, “The government must set its priorities correctly and take decisive action to reverse the dire economic situation.
Speaking at the event, Momin Ali Malik claimed that it was “a well-known fact” that trade had significantly reduced poverty levels throughout the world.
He made the point that trade liberalization has always benefited the fight against poverty and long-term economic growth.
Syed Aminul Haque, the federal minister for information technology and telecommunications, stated on Thursday that Pakistan was making ambitious efforts to reach the goal of $15 billion in IT exports over the following three years.
He was participating in a panel discussion at the National Incubation Centre (NIC) Karachi, part of the NED University of Engineering and Technology, on “Promoting US-Pakistan Innovation and Investment.”
The target for FY 2022–23 was set at $3 billion, and the IT ministry was fully committed to increasing that amount to $15 billion over the course of a three-year plan, according to the minister, who noted that Pakistan’s IT exports reached $2.6 billion in 2021–22.
According to him, the IT ministry has taken a number of initiatives to advance the industry as part of the Digital Pakistan vision, which has led to an increase in cellular, broadband, and internet connectivity.
Masood Khan, Pakistan‘s ambassador to the US, said on Saturday that Imran Khan, the former prime minister, had increased Pakistan’s exports to the US.
It was ironic that it happened when the former PM was blaming the US for supporting “the change in government” in the nation.
He claimed that Pakistan’s exports to the US increased 23% year over year and crossed $5 billion for the first time in the most recent fiscal year, primarily under the previous government of Imran Khan.
Imran’s claims that his removal from power was a result of a US plot to prevent him from pursuing an independent foreign policy seemed to stand in sharp contrast to the country’s increasing exports to the US.
The ambassador stated that Pakistan’s exports increased to $6.16 billion in the period of July through May of the previous fiscal year (July-June 2021–22), and that the figures for June, which were still to be released, would further increase the overall volume of exports.
“The US is Pakistan’s top export market and a significant trading partner. The increase in our exports is an extremely encouraging trend, he said.
He noted that Pakistan’s technology start-ups recently invested and received $1 billion, and he added that the digital businesses were quickly going global and getting ready for exponential growth.
