| 23 June 2004 | Wednesday | 04 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Ties with Singapore
Rooting out karo-kari
The Asian Development Bank's offer to provide $2.6 billion over the next three years for strengthening Pakistan's infrastructure and the social sector is both generous and timely.
The ADB is of the view that the amount of Rs202 billion allocated in the next fiscal year's budget for the Public Sector Development Programme is inadequate, and has thus decided to lend Pakistan a helping hand.
In its country strategy, the ADB lays special emphasis on evolving and implementing development programmes that can help sustain the momentum generated by an increased GDP growth rate (6.4 per cent) achieved in the current fiscal year.
This is not possible unless the PSDP focuses on achieving what the ADB
calls a "pro-poor" economic growth. The way to do so is by investing more over the medium term in infrastructure development and the social sector, which together can create more employment opportunities and help bring down poverty levels.
That is why the ADB is particularly interested in funding labour-intensive infrastructure development programmes and in supporting the social sector under the proposed strategy.
These include the streamlining of water and power projects, mega-city development plans rehabilitating roads and buildings, improvement of sewerage and sanitation and the urban environment generally.
The ADB's approach is thus more developing-country-friendly as opposed to the one being pursued by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Washington Consensus.
These three recommend that Third World governments restrict their role to facilitating the private sector and to gradually disengage themselves from the social sector.
The logic, according to western economic gurus, is that such a disengagement will encourage the private sector to invest in the economy and create more jobs. But the bookish model does not seem to be working in Pakistan.
Our private sector remains suspicious of the government's policies and wary of investing in an economy not supported by political stability and a normal law and order situation.
Despite the high growth rate achieved this fiscal year, private investment in the economy accounted for a measly 11.7 per cent. Thus, there has been no trickling down of the growth benefits to the poorer sections of society.
This is more likely to happen only when the economic growth rate reaches 10-12 per cent on a sustained basis. Pakistan still has a long way to go before it can reach that benchmark.
Our economic managers have adopted disengagement policies in the social sector since the last decade or so when the country was reeling under a heavy debt burden and economic sanctions at various levels.
The neglect of the social sector has resulted in higher incidence of poverty - over 30 per cent now live below the poverty line - and a higher unemployment rate (8.27 per cent).
In the post-9/11 world, when western governments' policies vis-a-vis Pakistan have been reversed, sanctions lifted and the debt burden somewhat eased, the government would do well to listen to the ADB and play its due role by re-engaging itself in the social sector.
Islamabad must also ensure that the money it has earmarked in the 2004-05 budget for the PSDP and the additional funding it will now receive from the ADB is made available for relevant development projects in a timely manner and spent judiciously. It is a matter of shame that up to 30 per cent of last year's PSDP fund could not be utilized because of bureaucratic delays.
Ties with Singapore
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's visit to Pakistan is expected to bring the two countries closer. The joint declaration issued in Islamabad on Monday and the speeches by the two prime ministers underline the importance they attach to bilateral relations.
Since both are members of several regional groupings, their bilateral relations could be instrumental in boosting economic cooperation between Saarc and Asean. Pakistan also needs Singapore's support to become a member of the Asean Regional Forum.
Taking note of this, Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said Pakistan greatly valued Singapore's "positive contributions" in these matters and hoped to build a "robust relationship" with it.
They also agreed to have greater cooperation in science and technology, especially IT - computer hardware and electronics account for 53 per cent of Singapore's exports.
The two leaders also expressed their resolve to fight terrorism, though Mr Goh showed a touch of realism when he said that the fight against terrorism also involved winning "the hearts and minds of Muslims on the ideological front."
Pakistan has to learn a lot from Singapore. Even though a city-state with a population of 4.6 million, Singapore has astonished the world with its economic miracle. After breaking away from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore under the leadership of Lee Kwan Yew became a model of economic development.
Today, its exports total nearly $140 billion, compared with Pakistan's $12 billion. The reason for Pakistan's poor economic performance has, no doubt, a lot to do with the country's defence burden.
But it also is a result of bad governance, poor economic management, wrong priorities, political instability, and - for the last two decades - terrorism and violence. In all these fields, Pakistan must try to gain from Singapore's experience.
The volume of trade between the two countries is far below their potential. Mr Goh has already offered talks with Pakistan for a free trade area. As he pointed out, the signing of the FTA would stimulate the flow of trade and services between the two countries. One hopes Mr Goh's visit would lead to a more productive and vibrant relationship between Pakistan and Singapore.
Rooting out karo-kari
While it is generally believed that a law banning honour killings may just be round the corner, the delay in its passage continues to haunt many a potential victim of a barbaric practice that is prevalent in all four provinces.
The latest case to be highlighted in the press was that of a young woman and a 50-year-old man, both killed by the woman's brother on suspicion of having illicit relations.
The gory incident took place in the interior of Sindh where the practice is commonly referred to as karo-kari. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, last year there were about 400 cases of karo-kari in Sindh, and more than half the victims were women.
However, the actual figure is likely to far exceed this statistic as most cases of karo-kari killings go unreported with the police, who, in many cases, are reluctant to entertain charges.
This has resulted in an estimated 70 per cent of culprits going scot free. What has not helped matters is the deep-rooted primitive jirga system in the interior whose verdicts have led to the killing of numerous unfortunate men and women.
Although a recent landmark judgment by the Sindh High Court banning jirga trials might give potential victims some reprieve, what is needed most at this point is a change in an archaic mentality found in all echelons of society with a more enlightened outlook.
With the exception of a handful of human rights activists, there has been little attempt by society, including opinion makers and politicians, to root out this pervasive evil.
Many in our ruling elite have actually been reluctant to discuss the issue for fear of either undermining their own positions in a feudal order or antagonizing those elements that hold tribal traditions, however pernicious and primitive, sacrosanct. Taking effective political action to eliminate karo-kari will only be possible when they realize that no tradition can be held superior to human life.