Two Worlds

By Amir Zia
Weekly Money Matters
The News
Sept. 12, 2011

As politicians heap scorn on one another and fan emotions, establishing the rule of law, bringing peace and stability – all vital to get the economic activities going –are not even part of their discourse

Springfield –a small, rural town of less than 3,000 inhabitants in the US state of Kentucky – is trying to attract and retain workers, investors and entrepreneurs not only from its own Washington county but also the neighbouring ones so that it can serve as a regional economic and agricultural hub. Lush green meadows and acres and acres of corn and tobacco fields, dotted by family-run wineries and horse and cattle farms, remain the backbone of its economy. Here, the local government welcomes and facilitates people from other regions to set up new business ventures and establish trade links with locals. The aim is to boost the home market and products in these challenging economic times when there remains a tough competition to attract investment and businesses.
Louisville, the largest city of Kentucky, located at about an hour’s drive from Springfield, replicates the effort of attracting human resource and investment on a grander scale. The local authorities of this city –the hometown of Muhammad Ali, the cultural icon and champion boxer of the 20th century – have launched an innovative talent attraction programme called the Greater Louisville International Professionals (GLIP). It targets foreign talent to come, work and live in this city of around 700,000 people and showcases Louisville as a “welcome and inclusive city of possibilities.” So far, the GLIP– launched in 2009 –has representatives of 94 countries, which includes Pakistan. These representatives, called ambassadors, serve as point persons and resource for their respective countries and help new international residents acclimate to Louisville. GLIP has more than 800 online members and database of 2,700 foreign-born professionals, executives and entrepreneurs, international academia and local business executive and recruiters, who work internationally.
Concerns about global terrorism make the process of getting a visa and immigration to the United States slow and cumbersome – an issue which the local authorities have taken up with their federal government. However, international talent continues to trickle into this “land of opportunities.” The high US rate of unemployment – recorded at 9.1percent in August 2011 – the recent debt crisis that resulted in the downgrading of the credit rating of the US government’s bond for the first time in the country's history, and the sluggish economy, fail to deter people from pursuing the American Dream.
Many American economists, planners and the man on the street believe that the current difficult economic phase will pass as it happened during the Great Depression (1929-1941) and the inflation woes of the 1970s. They see that 10 to 30 years down the road, the United States would need a vast talented pool of human resource and investment – and the foundations for which are being laid today. No wonder that from a small rural town to a mid-sized city and to the state level – efforts at every tier appear in one direction.
In the globalised world when regions, countries, cities, towns and villages – each in their own respective spheres compete with one another to attract talent and capital – this vision and strategy is vital for success. Prospering economies around the world are following it – from the Far East to Middle East and Europe to the United States. Even our South Asian neighbours including India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are on a road to progress and trying to integrate themselves into the region and the globalised world.
On the contrary, in Pakistan, we do our best to scare away potential investors and threaten and rob those who happen to be here. Let alone foreign, even many local investors are being forced to shut businesses and look for other options. A number of educated and professional Pakistanis are looking for an escape route from this land of the pure. Political instability, inconsistent policies, terrorism, crime, insecurity, extremism and corruption –all have made Pakistan unlivable and an international pariah despite the fact that the country offers a vast market of around 180 million people, tremendous natural resources and a pool of talented and hardworking people, including highly educated professionals.
The lack of vision is reflected at every level. Many of our regional politicians see workers even from outside their province as a threat, let alone trying to attract talent and investment from abroad. Balochistan is a case in point, where there has been a systematic campaign of terror and violence going on against people who are being dubbed as “settlers,” though many of the victims have been living there for generations. The lawlessness in Balochistan has halted all the exploration and drilling for new hydrocarbon resources for years now.
The small port city of Gwadar, seen as an investor’s dream and a happening place only a few years ago, has lost its steam. The reason: terrorism and violence that spring in the region from the misconception that the local population will lose rather than gain because of the influx of outside talent and resources. While successive government can be criticised for their failure in removing this fallacy, local politicians, too, remain unable to see the opportunity and find ways to become part of the development and act as a catalyst for progress in the larger public interest. The parochial tribal mindset and unimaginative and rigid bureaucracy and officialdom in Islamabad have been unable to build a consensus and find a way forward.
A couple of years ago, while interviewing a prominent nationalist leader, who was railing against the supposed threat of outside workers and investment to the local population, I could not help but saying that his political position appears against the global trend and makes no economic sense. His prompt reply was that his province was no Dubai, Singapore or Malaysia nor does he want it to become like them. The irony remains that the children of this politician studied at an expensive private English-medium school in Karachi, but having similar institutions in places like Gwadar or Turbat, which can attract students from across the country, was not part of his agenda, vision or political discourse.
Coming to Karachi, the country’s economic and industrial hub and once our own local city of opportunities and dreams, we see that it has been brutalised to its core. This megapolis still draws workers from all over the country, but its economic pace and rhythm has been broken – thanks to the political mafias which patronize extortion, kidnapping for ransom, robberies and all the other sort of crimes. As these mafias fight bloody turf wars and torture and kill rivals, it is economic activity which has taken the biggest hit. Many of the established businesses are struggling, while new investments remain on the hold. Many small, mid and large players have shifted to other places, even abroad, and many more plan to join this exodus as every part of the city has become unsafe and insecure.
As politicians heap scorn on one another and fan emotions, establishing the rule of law, bringing peace and stability – all vital to get the economic activities going –are not even part of their discourse. We have started to look at one another with suspicion and distrust –both individually and collectively, divided along political, ethnic and religious grounds. Instead of creating economic opportunities, we are bent upon destroying them brick by brick. Political parties, the government, and the state institutions – all have failed to rise to the challenge and provide the vision which brings back peace and puts economic development and progress back on the agenda. As the world moves forward, the parochial mindset is slowly but surely stifling the country at every level.