Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan Dr Nadeem-ul-Haque said that middle class drives political, social and cultural change in any country. He said this while addressing a seminar on "Business and the Middle Class in Pakistan", organised by the Planning Commission of Pakistan here on Wednesday.
Dr Sabir Afridi, Dr Durr-e-Nayab, Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Muhammad Rafiquddin Mehkari President Askari Bank Pakistan, Afnan Ahsan CEO ENGRO Foods Limited, Mohammad Ali Khan Vice President/Senior Manager MCB Bank Ltd and Bashart Ahmed Advisor Corporate Affairs Unilever participated in the seminar.
He said that middle class is core of the society and it has grown with time. He said that it is the middle class that was the driver of success in India and China. The middle class has been growing in number as well as in importance all over the world, which is why businesses strategists are targeting this specific class, he said. The seminar included speakers and discussants from some of the largest companies and businesses in Pakistan, coming together to discuss the importance of the evolving middle class in Pakistan.
The speakers said that the middle class is conceptually defined as the class between the rich and the poor; however its boundaries are usually made arbitrarily. They said that it is also important to note the multi-dimensionality of an adequate definition; a person belonging to the middle class needs to be evaluated not only on a monetary basis, other aspects of quality of life and available opportunities need to be encapsulated to arrive at a well rounded definition.
They said that Pakistan have a middle class that is around 35 percent (61 million) of the total population. They said that middle class is more in urban than in rural areas. When compared to its neighbours, baring Sri Lanka, Pakistan has a bigger middle class than all other countries including India, they said. They said that the middle class in Pakistan has actually grown with time.
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