With almost six decades of staggering history, the sunshine, with all its exquisiteness, lingering with the aroma of revived freshness seems to have finally dawned in Balochistan, our largest province. It has tread on a path of utmost endeavour, garnished with the blessings of a brave and hardy human resource and a Promising future to look up to.
The mere silhouette of its existence has been defined but the horizons need to be determined and achieved. With loads of opportunities pouring in and having the skill to judge the best among them, tomorrow belongs to those who dare. Such is the philosophy guiding the spirits of those for whom Balochistan is nothing but the rising sun.
According to the 1998 census, Balochistan, stretching over a terrain of 347,190 sq. kms and forming 43.6% of the total area of Pakistan, carries a total population of around 8 million and thus a lowest density per square kilometer. Geographically divided into four zones of Upper high lands, lower high lands, plains and deserts and having a coastal line of 760 kms, the province of Balochistan offers a geographically difficult but widely unexplored and thus a lucrative land with multiple investment opportunities.
Despite being the largest province of the country, the developmental expenditure for the year 2005-2006 was only Rs 11.7 billion as against Rs 21 billion for NWF Rs 24 billion for Sindh and Rs 53 billion for Punjab. Moreover, the developmental expenditure has been approximately 10% lower than the revised budgetary estimates of last year, contrary to the necessity of increasing the developmental outlay of the province, which could adequately enhance the standard of living and improve overall economic environment and secure higher revenue generation capacity to accomplish self sufficiency of the province. As per the Pakistan Social and Living Measurement Survey 2004-05, the literacy rate of the province is at an alarmingly low rate of 37% compared to NWF' Punjab and Sindh at 45%, 55% and 56% respectively.
Decades of neglect has left the province of Balochistan as the most underdeveloped area of the country. Economic conditions have been worse than in any other region, lacking necessary transportation infrastructure and other basic necessities of life.
Building a conducive economic environment there had always been a difficult task, not due to the limitation of resources but mainly due to security concerns in carrying forward any developmental activity. However, the recent corrective measures and the resolve of those who matter along with the provision of incentives to the corporate world to invest in the province's commercial prospects seem to already have a positive impact on the economic milieu.
The huge hydrocarbon prospects of Balochistan are manifested by the fact that the country's largest gas discovery was made in Balochistan and it is the most significant contributor towards energy resources of the country. Since the required exploration efforts to fully tap the province's hydrocarbon wealth remains stalled, the province and the country remained deprived of the benefits and prosperity that would result from this potential.
The current government seems to have taken up the task of developing the province with a resolve and commitment, having undertaken construction of roads, airport and railway networks along with coastal line and Gwadar Deep Port, which would go along way in ensuring a prosperous future for the province. The provincial government, Board of Investment, SMEDA, Export Promotion Bureau and other Trade associations seem to have become active in promotion of business activities in Balochistan and only sincere efforts in the right direction shall restore peoples' faith in their future, who are by now weary of decades of political, economical and social unrest.
The province of Balochistan undisputedly has a promising future with its vast resources of raw material for industrial development and the economic advantage of its location being at easy access to the Central Asian Countries as well as Gulf States added with the incentives granted by the Government through flexible investment policies.
The sectors such as Minerals (comprising oil and gas, granite coal, marble business), Horti culture (comprising Fruits processing plants, Apple treatment plants, Date processing plants and cold storage chains), fisheries (comprising fish and shrimp processing plants), livestock (comprising layer farming, goat/sheep farming, dairy farms, goat sheep related processing industry) and handicraft industry represent the depth of commercial potential and the wide variety of business options for investors to choose from.
The development of the Gwadar and Coastal Area shall prove to be yet another reason for the growth of Balochistan providing favourable economic environment and various investment opportunities. The city of Gwadar has the potential to become another cosmopolitan industrial capital of the country giving boom to the industrial sector opening their products to the world with the deep port at their ready access.
Corporate groups are increasingly being attracted to Gwadar and are actively assessing what it has to offer in view of the saturation of other industrial hubs of the country including Karachi. Moreover, the city of Gwadar has also become a gateway to development of other ancillary industries such as construction, ferry service to Muscat. Oman etc, hotels, water sports, amusement parks and business development service providers etc.
Albeit late, things have started treading on the path of prosperity. What needs to be done today is to move ahead forgetting the past but at the same time learning from it, embracing the future but at the same time preparing for what it brings, knowing the strengths but at the same time overcoming the weaknesses. We as a nation owe a lot to the people of Balochistan, to instil in them faith and trust that we all are a part of a great family whose future and fortunes are destined to prosper in togetherness for all times to come; and must we prove it to them that in our hearts it has always been thus and thus will it be....