Regional Connectivity (ENGLISH)

Pakistan since its inception has been dependent on aid and aid-financed policy advisers. Lacking indigenous thinking, policy has always felt insecure and looked to easy solutions based on greater dependency on external agents.

Following such advice policymakers have felt inadequate to tackle domestic policy issues. Donors in recent years have pushed the agenda of regional integration as vital to economic development.

The initiation of CPEC is vital to the opening out of Pakistan to Central Asia and eventually to Pakistan playing a vital role in Asian trade and connectivity. CPEC is also playing a vital role in providing much needed energy and road infrastructure.

We discuss regional connectivity with Haroon Sharif who has managed regional policy issues as a senior adviser in the World Bank and DFID. He has also had experience in several Pakistani policy positions and is now serving as an advisor to the National Defense University.

While all economists agree on opening out the economy and the need to develop trade in your neighborhood and beyond, it is not quite clear whether an uncompetitive economy beset with poor governance and high cost of doing business will be able to take advantage only of regional policies. 

Haroon sheds light on issues related to regional connectivity and how we can benefit from CPEC.

Listen to this and let us reinvigorate research and debate into change. 

Listen to this fascinating discussion. There is much to learn and research here. 

You can also look at my book “Looking Back: How Pakistan Became an Asian Tiger in 2050” now available in hard copy in Pakistan here http://www.libertybooks.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=Nadeem%20ul%20haque&category_id=0Soft copy here. https://www.amazon.com/Looking-Back-Pakistan-Became-Asian-ebook/dp/B06X94135J/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488133596&sr=1-1&keywords=nadeem+haque

Listen and learn and write some papers on this subject.  Don’t forget to cite Soch Bichar

Please subscribe to Soch Bichar if you like it. Tell you friends about it. That is the only way to grow a public discussion. And we need a wider conversation on these important subjects.