Davos 2018

The footprints of Pakistan at the World Economic Forum at Davos is a promising improvement, compared to its pathetic participation and at times no show at Davos, and it happened at a very short notice.
The high points of Pakistan's presence and acceptance at Davos was in 2006 and 2007 when investors' interest in investing in Pakistan was at its peak. The comeback, somewhat to that level, is being witnessed in 2018 under the influence of the presence of Prime Minister Abbasi, in the backdrop of CPEC and Pakistan's GDP growth of over 5.5 percent.
Davos 2018 also witnessed the presence of PPP Chairperson Bilawal, Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and the first-ever Pakistan Pavilion at Davos through the joint efforts of Pathfinder Group, Martin Dow and the Swiss Asian Chamber of Commerce.
After the United Nations General Assembly session each year in New York, the WEF at Davos is the most important global assembly where the world's most powerful political and business leaders assemble for an annual four-day elite conference known as the World Economic Forum held each year in the serene Swiss ski resort of Davos. It is a global get-together for around 2,500 movers and shakers from the worlds of business, politics, finance and the media.
The year 2018 records an unprecedented participation of global leaders, including 70 heads of state and government and 38 heads of major international organisations, as well as the largest-ever presence of women leaders.
In addition to the Indian Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump, the heads of state include Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, Brazilian President Michel Temer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri.
The US president will deliver a keynote address towards the event's close. The Indian prime minister delivered the opening address.
It is at Davos where global initiatives in business, which have political and economic significance, are announced. It was at Davos 2017 that Chinese President Xi announced the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative of global connectivity, a loud and clear message to the world that China is all set to take over the globalization leadership by stepping into the space created by the US.
This year's theme at Davos is "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World," amid a wave of protectionism across Europe and the US that has stirred fears among the champions of free world trade.
In line with this theme, Pakistan at Davos 2018 received a great chance to present itself at much greater heights of global recognition by picking up aggressively on One Belt One Road from where President Xi left in 2017. Much more could have been played up in Pakistan's favour to global media and leaders as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the most important and fastest moving corridor among the five corridors under OBOR.
Prime Minister Abbasi did expand on CPEC in panel discussions and interviews to the media, but the programme planners of Pakistan fell short of efforts to escalate it to the height of exposure which could truly excite the interest of the investors and secure recognition of Pakistan's political and economic position with influence in the region.
The subject demanded at least a full one day of CPEC-dedicated sessions with group discussions on the value addition CPEC offers in terms of regional connectivity, market accessibility, infrastructure development, establishment of Special Economic Zones open to all investors.
There was dire need, through dialogues and group discussions, to convince the global business and political leadership that CPEC is not cetred on China and Pakistan but is open to all countries to benefit from. But all this did not happen at the level it demanded and a great opportunity was missed.
In these stressful times, Pakistan has nothing better to sell to global leaders then CPEC, to place itself at a position of strength in these changing political and economic global landscape.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi pitched "Invest in Pakistan" to a gathering of business and political leaders at Davos.
On many accounts, his presence at Davos was exceptionally impressive and he stood up tall in the ranks of global leadership there.
His attire in a modest national dress blended well with the simplicity of his personality, the selection of his team comprising of a few members who mattered and his assertive and to-the-point meaningful address and meetings with the world's business and political leaderships sent the message of a professional and confident country leadership out to meet the domestic and global challenges.
His reach-out to European, Japanese and Asian businesses and political leaderships, and their promising commitments in return for a commendable initiative of global cooperation.
The prime minister assured the international community that CPEC projects would be financially and environmentally sustainable and would be open to all for investment.
"We will ensure that these projects do not create distortions and will be inclusive and open to all," said Prime Minister Abbasi.
He spoke about the Belt and Road Impact Panel session, along with five other panelists.
Chan Chun Sing, minister in the office of Singaporean prime minister, and Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) were among the panelists.
Panelists expressed enthusiasm after hearing the audience about the opportunities that the Belt and Road Initiative offers to the Eurasian countries. CPEC is an integral part of China's strategic initiative that promises shared prosperity to all participating nations.
Jin Liqun said that his bank would finance only those projects of the BRI that are financially viable, environmentally sustainable and, more importantly, owned by the local community.
"The AIIB will not finance the white elephant projects," said Lin. He said there were 48 AIIB member countries and all of them fall on the BRI, therefore, they were natural partners. The AIIB president said protectionism is a reality, but connectivity will reduce protectionism.
Lin said that even though the US was not a member of the BRI, the AIIB was engaging with the US companies.
Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev said that the BRI is a solution to the fractured world. He said the Chinese strategic initiative has offered tremendous opportunities to Eurasian countries.
AECOM CEO and chairman Michael Burke said that 60 percent of the world's population is living in the BRI region and this largest-ever infrastructure project in world history will provide greater opportunities to these countries to address their infrastructure deficiencies.
Singapore's Chan Chun Sing said that the BRI will not only address connectivity issues in the short term but will also capitalise the economy of the participating nations.
Asked by the moderator to sum up the importance of the project and to win trust and confidence in One Word, PM Abbasi said the BRI should work for creation of jobs while the other speakers called for continued broad-based consultation, common connectivity, sustainable social lessons, global collaboration and signature projects.
Reaching out to global business leaders he discussed avenues of partnership in health, education and other social sectors with Bill Gates. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and empowerment of farmers through financial and digital inclusion was also discussed at the meeting.
Of great importance to Pakistan is the growth of its SMEs, which are the true prime movers of all emerging economies of the world. At present, Pakistan's SMEs are very much on their own, with no government support. All global cooperations to support SMEs will move Pakistan towards economic sustainability at ground level.
The presence of a young leadership from Pakistan at Davos was encouraging.
Pakistan People's Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in discussing fake news vs real politics, said the big business models pose a threat to real journalism in Pakistan.
Discussing the concept of fake news, Bilawal said that fake news recently gained popularity primarily through US elections, although it has existed for decades.
Responding to questions raised during the discussion, Bhutto said, "When fake news is disseminated in Pakistan it can have major issues. The point is to have the media come through as transparent as it can.
Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai stressed on collective responsibility to promote the education of young girls across the globe.
While speaking at the session titled "An Insight, An Idea with Malala Yousafzai," she admitted that the fight for female education is not a single person's job.
"Not one person will be able to do this. I [alone] can't send all girls to school. What I can do is send as many girls as possible. I try to reach out to as many girls as possible."
It is also important to remind everyone that they can all play a role in this struggle. "This is a responsibility we should all realize."
In these difficult times, when the global perception of Pakistan is being distorted through fake media, by vested business and political interests, it is imperative that Pakistan must participate with full might in events like WEF at Davos to reach out directly to the stake holders and thwart these evil designs.
(The writer is former President of Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry)