Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said Pakistan deeply values its relations with Singapore and called upon the need to further expand the existing economic and trade relations between the two countries.
Pakistan desires to see a strong and prosperous East Asia which is not only important for economic uplift of its own people but also for the stability and prosperity of the whole Asia, he said. The Prime Minister was talking to Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, who called on him here.
Giving an overview of Pakistan's economy, the Prime Minister said the economy had registered a broad based growth in 2006-07 where GDP had recorded a growth rate of 7.0 percent and is projected to grow at 7.2 percent in 2007-08. The foreign exchange reserves have now crossed $16 billion, he added.
Prime Minister Aziz said that the economic stability, achieved through continuity and transparency of policies, was the hallmark of the government's good governance and added that structural reforms had restored the confidence of investors.
Foreign investments are at all times high as a result, leading to job creation and poverty alleviation, he added. The Prime Minister said the successful implementation of the policies had ensured that Pakistan today was one of the fastest growing economies in the Asian region.
Referring to the progress made in telecom sector, he said Pakistan had become a hub of activity for international and local telecom companies and unprecedented amount of foreign investment flowed into the sector due to the well thought out telecom policy, which was prepared after intensive discussions and debates involving all stakeholders.
He said that telecom was one of the fastest growing sectors of the country where combined tele-density had increased from 4 percent to about 34 percent of the population. The number of subscribers had increased from 8 million in 2003 to over 62 million in 2007 and the market had the potential to reach 80 million in the next couple of years, he added.
He further said the telecom sector had become a major employer of skilled jobs as its exponential growth had resulted in creation of 80,000 jobs directly and 500,000 jobs indirectly.
The Prime Minister said that the economic strength gained through structural reforms now positioned the government to transfer the benefits of economic growth to the people and as a result there had been a visible improvement in the living standards of the people. He said per capita income has been doubled, index of human development is improving and unemployment is decreasing.
The Prime Minister said priority areas of the government include health, education, agriculture, gender empowerment and infrastructure development as these are all critical elements put to leverage the true potential of the country.
He said Pakistan, because of its geo-strategic location, serves as a bridge between three important regions of Asia and the government is working to leverage this position to promote regional trade and co-operation. He said Pakistan's vision of building trade, energy and transportation corridors has been well received by various countries of the region.
Kishore Mahbubani appreciated the macro-economic policies and structural reform agenda of the government of Pakistan, which helped in turning around its economic outlook.
He also offered scholarships to Pakistanis in his school of public policy, which the Prime Minister welcomed and said this would help improve capacity building of the government officials in areas of management. Kishore Mahbubani before joining the Lee Kuan Yew school of Public Policy served as a Permanent Representative of Singapore to the UN.
In addition to writing extensively in various journals and newspapers, he has written two highly acclaimed books tilted "Can Asian Think" and "Beyond the Age of Innocence." He also presented his newly published book "Rebuilding Trust between America and the World" to the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.