IF A British resident is charged following a terrorist crime and we later learn they are of Pakistani origin, then it's tempting to give in to prejudice. And if we read about a suicide bomb attack on Islamabad airport, then our view of a Pakistan we have never visited or studied in depth can be further clouded.
Fear and the need to make sudden, simplistic judgements is, unfortunately, hot-wired into our nature as human beings. So last week's six-day, three-location visit to Pakistan by a large City business delegation (the first Lord Mayor's visit to that country for 10 years) was of special importance.
As the team flies on to the UAE before returning to London later this week, I write to tell City A.M. readers of what we learned - about business AND the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, home to 160 million people, the second most populous country with a Muslim majority.
It's a very complicated place with a history full of (often painful) drama but one simple fact is its population's strong connection with Britain. There are more than 800,000 Pakistani Britons and they make a great contribution.
Of course, Pakistan's leaders face a big challenge to lift all of its people out of poverty and to create a sustainably stable society but determined economic reforms are increasing the size of the middle classes, the World Bank has ranked Pakistan as the "the top reformer" in South Asia (and among the top 10 in the world) and foreign investment is flowing in to build infrastructure.
Pakistan's leadership includes a number of former international business people of Pakistani origin who have returned to take on heavy responsibilities. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (formerly of Citigroup) have adopted the mantra "Government has no business doing business" and privatisation is driving up standards and efficiency, and drawing in investment.
For example, Standard Chartered Bank, whose vice-chairman Sir Tom Harris was part of my 18-strong delegation, has invested nearly $500m (£260m) in Pakistan's Union Bank and this year takes its 116 branches to 150, followed by many more. In fact, I opened the newest in Karachi during the visit.
International-standard banking is already raising the availability of credit - an important driver of growth for the entrepreneurial and employment-generating small-business sector. Since the millennium, poverty in Pakistan has dropped from one in three to one in four and growth is averaging about 7 percent. Billions are being invested by foreign firms in mineral extraction, power generation, water projects and roads.
Pakistan's hydrocarbon reserves are under-exploited and the sinking of test wells has risen from 15 a year two years ago to nearly 50 as the Oil and Gas Development Corporation (listed on the London Stock Exchange last year) adopts an invigorated approach under the leadership of another returning international business leader, this time from Chevron. International business rates the country as the easiest regionally in which to do business.
Make your own opportunity to have a closer look at the reality of Pakistan and the role being played in its reform and growth by international business, much of it financed through London. Leave your preconceptions and prejudices at home and be prepared to see for yourself the new Pakistan. Its success will bring many wider benefits of peace and prosperity to us all.
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