Daily Times

The death of Queen Elizabeth II brought a wave of discussion about colonialism worldwide. While most jokingly mention the return of stolen treasures, the undeniable truth is that over two centuries, the East India Company and the British empire drained off at least $45 trillion up till their departure.

While the British Empire existed from the subcontinent, it left traces of social and economic disruptions that still echo in the fabric of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Plagued by one of the worst human atrocities during the partition, institutionalised hatred amongst the partitioned nations and the 200 years of dictation had left the economic wheel paralyzed. After over 70 years, it is important to revisit and evaluate the economic cost of colonialism that Pakistan is still paying.

In post-colonial Pakistan, extractive institutes presided over by an ambitious and power-hungry bureaucratic elite have stifled the emergence of democracy, the rule of law, and constitutional supremacy. It has been assisted and fostered by a court system that has consistently failed to be a neutral arbiter. This elite’s political and economic interests have become so entrenched that it is always active in political manoeuvring, overt and covert-to safeguard their interests, causing political instability in the process. As a result, economic policies implemented by successive governments rarely bear fruit, prolonging the cycle of low growth, underdevelopment, and social backwardness, as seen by Pakistan’s poor Human Development Index (HDI), which is the lowest in the South Asian area.

With 25 per cent of Pakistan’s exports being contributed by SMEs, it is one of the most affected market segments destroyed by the recent floods and in urgent need of revival.

Due to this particular benefit to the elitist mindset coupled with the poor economic vision, Pakistan has faced severe challenges in its growth, industrialisation and strengthening of an SME sector. In his speech, Marc-André Franche, Country Director of UNDP in Pakistan from 2013 to 2016, said:

“You cannot have an elite that takes advantage of very cheap and uneducated labour when it comes to making money, and when it is time to party it is found in London, and when it’s time to buy things it is in Dubai, and when it’s time to buy a property it invests in Dubai or Europe or New York. The elite needs to decide ‘do they want a country or not.'”

While poverty remains a challenge in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, we witness stark economic progress in both countries. India has made remarkable digital progress, which is expected to grow to become an $800 billion market by 2030. On the contrary, despite its enormous digital and freelance potential, Pakistan is only estimated to grow by $24 billion by 2023, accounting for 6.6 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Similarly, Bangladesh’s economic growth is a tale of remarkable resilience and power strategies. According to the World Bank, “Bangladesh has become the fastest growing economy globally over the last decade because poverty has come down from 43.5 per cent to 14.3 per cent just in two decades.” The country was able to achieve these results through diversifying exports beyond the RMG sector, deepening the financial sector, making urbanization more sustainable and strengthening public institutions. Unfortunately, as hinted earlier, Pakistan’s continuous political turmoil has led to a complete failure in aligning its SME industry, which possesses excellent growth potential. According to a report, Pakistan is home to approximately five million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that operate in many industries, such as manufacturing, trading, services, information technology (IT), and more. These SMEs collectively generate 40 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP. With 25 per cent of Pakistan’s exports being contributed by SMEs, it is one of the most affected market segments destroyed by the recent floods and in urgent need of revival.

I will not even beat around the bush about the bureaucratic and meritocratic dysfunctionality and the changes that are desperately needed. I have written extensively about the required structural changes and commenced several shows on the topic.

However, what I do want to highlight is how the CPEC project has been delayed, compromised and sabotaged by our negligence and security lapses. Even though the latest report on CPEC shows the completion of 27 projects worth $19 billion, the real commitment will be reflected in the completion of 63 more schemes worth $35 billion by 2030 – a daunting challenge that requires utmost focus and a zero elitist mindset.

There is no denying that colonialism has left a great mark on countries and is often attributed to the negative traits of economies. But at the same time, we have witnessed a tremendous progression in former colonies. Therefore, perhaps the biggest cost of colonialism that Pakistan has paid in the last 75 years and is still paying is the unfortunate elitist mindset which continues to be the major roadblock in the country’s social and economic fabric.

The writer is the Foreign Secretary-General for BRI College, China. He tweets @DrHasnain_javed