Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said here on Saturday that home-grown leaderships, with a clear vision and decision-taking powers can help the Muslim world make rapid advancement towards the goal of more stronger economies.
Chairing an interactive session on ''Who is leading the Way'', he elaborated on the role and responsibilities of a leader, the forces that are driving political change and economic development and how the region can share common values to bring about a positive change in the lives of its people.
"Decisions and leaders imposed from abroad are not long lasting and neither there should be any interference," he said.
He, however, regretted that the Muslim world lacked the unity it needed to meet the growing challenges. The Prime Minister said there was leadership deficit in the world and there was need to have leaders who have a clear vision, can take tough decisions, have the ability of problem solving and can take the people along by convincing them.
The Prime Minister said the Middle Eastern region has achieved a lot in the past few years and there was need to undertake vigorous reforms in economic, political and all other related areas to ensure progress and advancement in all spheres.
In reply to a number of questions about how the country managed a remarkable economic turnaround, he said the government was ensuring that Pakistan was never again trapped in debt and does not compromise its sovereignty.
The Prime Minister referred to the ''Fiscal Responsibility'' law that was passed by his country''s legislature, and added that any country''s economy was based on economic policies and leave behind a deep impact on country''s foreign and political process. He said the law will go a long way to ensure that Pakistan is never trapped again in debt and does not compromise its sovereignty.
During the interactive session, participants held a frank and open discussion and identified that there were many commonalties as all countries faced similar opposition to change.
They also termed the economic turnaround in Pakistan as a success story and said it could be emulated by all. The panellists agreed that the Arab countries needed to follow Pakistan''s example, which undertook dedicated efforts needed to reform its financial sector.
Aziz also spoke of the need of political reform and said that the reform process could not be undertaken in isolation and needed to take into account other areas of governance.
He said that institutionalised reforms brought the country from the brink of bankruptcy to be among top 10 reformers.
He spoke of the reforms initiated by his government to bring about a positive change. He said it was very difficult, and added that the only constant in a modern world was the word ''change''. He said the five driving factors were: de-regulation, privatisation, good governance and transparency.
He referred to Pakistan''s telecom sector that was now adding a million subscribers a month. He said the biggest hindrance was from within, but added that with concerted efforts and bringing about a series of changes, gradually things improved.
He also spoke of the reforms in the Income Tax department and said the department was known for indulging in malpractice''s, followed by tax lawyers and tax payers who opposed change as it suited everyone.
The Session was participated by Bassem I Awadallah, representative of the Jordanian government, N Shafik Gabr, Chairman and Managing Director, Artoc Group for Investment & Development, Egypt; Chairman of Arab Business Council; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and Gamal H. Mubarak, Head, Policy Secretariat, National Democratic Party, Egypt.
The World Economic Forum on Middle East is focusing on several challenges faced by Middle East and to shape the regional agenda towards bold decisions that would provide hope and opportunity for young people.
Earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened the World Economic Forum on Middle East with a call to the international community to work together to resolve regional conflicts. "Peace and development are indivisible," the President told more than 1,200 government, business and civil society leaders from 46 countries meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. Bassem I Awadallah, representative of the Jordanian government, said that Pakistan could take justifiable pride in the reform agenda and celebrate its "fantastic economic success".
Participants, drawn from the highest level of government and business, as well as top experts and civil society representatives, will also be focussing on creation of new job opportunities besides looking into the labour market issues. The other sub-themes would cover the rule of law, peace, security and international relations, and issues of youth, culture and identity.
Comments
Comments are closed.