Russia-Ukraine war: Pakistan could not import, procure vital raw materials: PM

RIYADH: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday said permanent peace in Gaza was imperative for peace in the world.

He was speaking at the plenary meeting of the special session of World Economic Forum on the theme of “Rejuvenating Growth”.

He said, “The world will not be in peace unless there is a permanent peace in Gaza.”

As he talked about Gaza, the audience in the hall responded with resounding applause.

He said the conflict in Ukraine brought to the world skyrocketing commodity prices, and Pakistan could not import and procure vital raw materials for industry and agriculture.

“On top of that inflation is breaking the back of developing countries,” he said. Coupled with that, Pakistan faced devastation in 2022 due to huge unimaginable floods.

The prime minister said, “Pakistan is one of those countries which have nothing to do with the reasons leading to climate change. Our contribution to emissions is not even fraction of one percent.”

Due to the catastrophic floods in Pakistan, large swathes of land were submerged, millions of houses and animals were washed away, and stagnant water brought water borne diseases all across the country, he continued. He said his government spent Rs 100 billion from scarce resources for relief and rehabilitation of the flood victims.

“We are grateful to the friendly countries including Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries, the United Kingdom, the United States and many other countries for their support at a difficult time.”

Pakistan’s economy suffered losses of 30 billion dollars because of the floods and then it approached international entities in Geneva and other places and had to borrow loans at expensive rates due to the natural disaster which was not its fault, he mentioned.

“Our country was hit in a way which I had not seen in my life time,” he remarked.

He gave the example of his family to express his determination and resolve to put Pakistan on the road to progress and prosperity.

He said his father and his brothers were sons of a poor farmer in undivided India and they migrated to Lahore, Pakistan at the time of partition.

With the sheer dint of hard work, in 1965 his father and family raised the largest steel engineering company in Pakistan but it was nationalized on January 2, 1972, he said, adding his family stood up and accepted the challenge and in next 18 months set up six new small factories to avoid further nationalization. He said global north and south were dependent on each other and had to work together to face the present challenges.

The prime minister said after taking over reins of the country early this year, he was determined to put things in order.

Talking about the issues facing Pakistan, he said the power sector was in a shambles due to massive electricity theft and an elitist culture was doling out to those who did not deserve it.

He told that for the first time in the country’s history after getting credible input from agencies he removed high level officers who were not functioning well and had grey records.

“Our revenue sector is in tatters and what we receive annually in revenue, we lose four times due to leakages in the system. Unless we plug loopholes we will not recover from our problems in revenue collection,” he explained.

He said there were also problems of inflation and debt trap which was a “death trap”.

He said, “I acknowledge from the core of my heart the support of Saudi leadership for Pakistan for overcoming economic challenges. A friend in need is a friend indeed.”

He appreciated the UK’s Department for International Development for its outstanding support for Pakistan in sectors of health and education in the past.

He said his government was going for deep rooted structural reforms and meaningful austerity.

Pakistan had a very young population - millions of boys and girls - which was not only a challenge but also a great opportunity, he added.