24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

WASHINGTON, April 23: A political change in the United States will not affect Pakistan's relationship with America as it is based on mutual national interests and not personal friendship, says Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz.

At a briefing at Washington's Brookings Institution on Thursday, the minister took many questions from Pakistani community in North America including: Will Pakistan remain a close US ally if President George W. Bush is not re-elected?

"The relationship is in the interest of both the countries and not just a personal thing between two people," said Mr Aziz, rejecting the assumption that it was the personal chemistry between Mr Bush and President Pervez Musharraf that brought the two countries together. "National interests of both the countries will drive the future relationship."

The minister also downplayed the significance of the US support in uplifting the Pakistani economy. "The support from the United States is clearly of value but it's very, very clear that unless a country shows good governance and implements necessary reforms, no friend can take you where you want to go."

When Aqil Shah, of Washington's National Endowment for Democracy, referred to an audit report that spoke of misappropriations in defence spending, Mr Aziz said: "Every rupee spent on defence is cleared by the finance department. We have a special secretary for this purpose and if there are irregularities, they will be placed before the people."

In his introductory remarks, the minister reminded the audience that when he addressed a similar gathering in Washington four years ago, there were questions about the very existence of the country, but since then, "we have been able to pull Pakistan out of a phase no country should be in.

We are no longer the basket case or the laughing stock of the financial community". "Micro-economic indicators have never looked better, we are now heading to another level of development from six to eight per cent range of growth."

He denied it was related to 9/11 factor and said: "No, it is not the result of 9-11. In fact, the overall impact of 9/11 has been negative. Pakistan has achieved economic stability because of good governance and sustainable reforms."

When he quoted from his government's reports on the economic progress, someone in the audience said it was difficult to trust such information as Pakistan had often been accused of twisting economic data to support its claims of progress.

"Our data is looked at by all our donors' and endorsed by international financial institutions," said the minister. The minister acknowledged that to sustain a stable economy and to attract foreign investment, Pakistan will have to improve the security situation, introduce police and judiciary reforms and create an overall environment conducive to investment and development.