An overwhelming majority of Pakistanis are supportive of international trade as they see it good for economic advancement of the country, according to a latest world-wide public opinion survey. The survey by 'Pew Global Attitudes Projects' found that 82 percent Pakistanis favour international trade, 60 percent of the respondents saw people better off in free market economies.
A substantial part of the population also feels that foreign companies operating in the country are having a positive impact. Pakistan has sustained a robust economic growth rate, of around 7 percent in the last few years, with its exports more than doubling in the last eight years.
Last financial year, the South Asian country attracted a record $8 billion investment, signifying a strong investor confidence in the country's economic potential.
The survey finds that publics of the world broadly embrace key tenets of economic globalisation, but fear the disruptions and downsides of participating in the global economy. In rich countries, as well as in poor ones, most people endorse free trade, multinational corporations and free markets.
However, the latest 'Pew' survey of more than 45,000 people finds that they are concerned about inequality, threats to their culture, threats to the environment and threats posed by immigration.
There are signs that enthusiasm for economic globalisation is waning in the West: Americans and Western Europeans are less supportive of international trade and multinational companies than they were five years ago. In contrast, there is near-universal approval of global trade among the publics of rising Asian economic powers.
Nonetheless, since 2002 enthusiasm for trade has declined significantly in the United States, Italy, France and Britain, and views of multinationals are less positive in Western countries where economic growth has been relatively modest in recent years.
There are widely shared concerns about the free flow of people, ideas and resources that globalisation entails. In nearly every country surveyed, people worry about losing their traditional culture and national identities, and they feel their way of life needs protection against foreign influences.
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