OUR prime minister is relatively young and inexperienced compared to Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir, who is nearly 93 years old. His first stint as prime minister ran from July 1981 till he voluntarily stepped down in October 2003.

It was during this period that Malaysia saw rapid progress. Prime Minister Imran Khan is aware that the Malaysian statesman has a lot of wisdom and experience from which he can benefit.

Dr Mahathir’s visit to be the guest of honour at the Pakistan Day parade is an opportunity for Pakistan to expand our relationship and learn first-hand how Malaysia which became independent after Pakistan went on to become an Asian Tiger under Dr Mahathir’s leadership.

Besides Malaysia most other countries in South East Asia are blazing a path to prosperity. By 2030, two-thirds of all middle-class spending power will be concentrated in Asia. Every country in the region is therefore competing for foreign investment in increasingly competitive and difficult conditions.

Therefore whatever we learn from Malaysia will be a big help.

Dr Mahathir was instrumental in projecting his country with the branding: ‘Malaysia Truly Asia.’ Surely a lot of thought and innovative thinking was given to the issue.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is promoting Pakistan as a haven for tourists. The Malaysian experience in tourism and entrepreneurship development are lessons Pakistan must learn. In this respect the government needs to focus on human capital development.

Pakistan has the capacity to train and develop, but is lacking in creative and innovative and out-of- box thinking strategies. These are the innovations that Malaysia has applied with great success.

Our policy makers and strategists should ask Dr Mahathir for a lesson 101 to transform PIA, Pakistan Railways, PTDC, etc., into instruments for large-scale tourism to brand Pakistan a ‘heaven on Earth.’

Jamil Janjua
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019