BELEAGUERED PM Gilani’s government might find it hard to list benefits of a high profile participation in the World Economic Forum late last month. Many consider the voyage to the Alpes an avoidable waste of public resources.

However, others tend to disagree.

The annual elite gathering at Devos this year debated options to repair the tarnished image of blue-eyed bankers and businessmen perceived to be responsible for the current global economic crisis that has yet to emit any sign of abetting. The impact of US financial meltdown in 2008 sparked a major global crisis impacting lives of millions who had no role in its making.

The movers and shakers, financial wizards, economic policy managers, powerful CEO community of the First World and a select group of political leadership discussed ways to address the social unrest, particularly in the US and Europe, fuelled by the economic crisis as indebted governments cut social spending to balance their budgets.

“For our leadership, the Devos meeting provided a brief break from usual vagaries of politics in Pakistan besides making bridges and mending the country’s image internationally,” a senior official close to the ruling party defended the decision.

“You know that the PM had to cancel some earlier foreign visits because of the brewing political situation in wake of the memo/NRO cases. He decided to avail the invitation to the WEF only when some modicum of normalcy was restored,” a source in the PM House gave a lame excuse.

However, some other high ranking officials were not as diplomatic. “It was a snap visit. To be able to achieve something tangible from a forum as diverse and organised as World Economic Forum it takes a lot of homework. There was none. So, as expected the visit did not go beyond a few photo shoots for the trio—- Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh and PM Gilani,” a detractor commented.

“I believe that it was a small and effective delegation that managed to do some groundwork on the sidelines of World Economic Forum for inclusion of Pakistan in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Group of 20 emerging economies (G-20),” a person in Islamabad privy to the visit informed.

He mentioned one-to-one meetings of the PM Gilani with his Thai and Mexican counterparts. In all, the high powered Pakistani delegation held 14 meetings beside scheduled group discussions that included an interaction with Bill Gates.

A senior US fund manager of Pakistani origin, participating in the forum, also saw Pakistan’s participation in positive light.

Besides members of official delegation, some Pakistani bankers and businessmen and politicians participated in their personal capacity or on personal invitation by the organisers. Better known among those are Imran Khan, Zakir Mehmood, Hussain Dawood and Ikram Sehgal.

“The economic diplomacy is a painstakingly long and slow process. You need to keep on cultivating with trading partners and global stakeholders without expecting immediate results. But, mind you, it is not futile. It pays off in the end. It is like investing in marketing company’s image that helps slowly but surely in gaining market share,” argued a former Pakistani bureaucrat, a proponent of economic diplomacy currently in Brussels working at WTO secretariat.

“However, the agenda cannot be allowed to be lost in subtlety. It would not bother me if the government choose not to share aims of a foreign visit in full with the media. But traveling on public expanse without a well-prepared brief is a cardinal sin,” he added.

The official visits such as World Economic Forum in Switzerland become controversial because the government has consistently been cutting development spending and subsidies and raising levies on fuel and energy to generate revenue to balance budget.

“Last year the government dignitaries did not attend the meeting and met criticism in the media for missing a public relation opportunity for the country. This year when the government attended you again have a problem,” a top gun in the government got annoyed when asked to justify the cost of the trip.

“Compare the small delegation of PM Gilani to ex PM Shaukat Aziz’s plane load of free riders spending a week of complete luxury in the winter resort and you will get a fair idea of the level of responsibility of an elected government, mindful of public resources,” he responded aggressively.

The star members of official delegation were not available for comments. Others attendants of WEF approached by Dawn spoke on condition of anonymity. They believe that the parliament is the right forum to discuss the benefits against costs of all such initiatives.