Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s promise of making Pakistan a welfare state – he likes to call it riyasat-i-medina – is commendable. Prof Hossein Askari, an academic at the George Washington University, has developed an Islamic City Index to rate states in order of their adherence to Islamic doctrines and teachings. In the 2017 rankings, only three Muslim majority countries made it to the top 50. Malaysia, having the best ratings among all Muslim majority countries, stood at number 43. These ratings show that according to Prof Askari’s system, Quran’s teachings are better represented in Western societies than in Muslim majority countries.

Most of Pakistan’s issues are related to governance and are a result of man-made socio-economic deprivation. It needs to embracing the ideals of the state of Medina, which guaranteed freedom of conscience, equality, equity, and fraternity, irrespective of one’s caste or creed, and enabled all subjects of state to enjoy same rights and privileges 1,400 years ago.

In 1978 China’s reformist leader China Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore and met Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister, who told him that there was nothing that Singapore had done that China could not do, and do better. Deng Xiaoping took this as a challenge. His reformist policies focused on building infrastructure, upgrading factories and enhancing the efficiency of managers and workers. Pakistan can also adopt and fine-tune development models of successful countries based on its strengths, geographic location, wide and varied hinterland, and capacity of its workforce.

With CPEC providing a jumpstart to Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy in terms of investment and better connectivity, there is a need to revive and incentivise the manufacturing and agriculture sectors through better macro-economic management, rigorous industrial governance and effective quality compliance systems. These measures would not only make manufacturing sector more profitable and exports more competitive but also prove to be providential for Pakistan as China is already transitioning from a core manufacturing industry to technology and innovation intensive industry.

Inability to adopt modern technologies and the absence of links between research institutions and universities and industry and field has kept agriculture yields low. Much agricultural produce is wasted due to post-harvest losses and absence of associated food processing industries. Europe is becoming one of the biggest importers of papaya with its 2017 imports reaching a whopping 103 million euros. It, mainly, imports papaya from Brazil and Mexico, and both are long-haul destinations. The southern coastal belt of Pakistan provides the ideal temperature and soil conditions to grow papaya. Proximity and better connectivity through road connections and maritime silk route can help Pakistan stand in good stead to compete against these countries.

Promoting and facilitating a culture of captive breeding of this bird would not only ensure a lucrative livelihood source for the underdeveloped region but also mitigate the problem of its declining population

Pakistan is blessed with a wide and varied hinterland with temperature ranging from -50 degrees C to 50 degrees C. Each of its districts should be dedicated to a specific economic activity based on its resources and spatial advantage that would require minimum capital investment by the government.

The Houbara Bustard is an endangred species that migrates to areas adjoining the Thal desert in the Punjab province, and the underdeveloped desert areas of Balochistan province for six months every year. Only Arab princes are granted permits for trophy hunting in these regions.

Promoting and facilitating a culture of captive breeding of this bird in the region would not only ensure a lucrative livelihood source for the underdeveloped area but also mitigate the issue of its declining population. Once the pilot project becomes successful, more licences for hunting can be granted, and revenue can be generated for development of these regions. At later stages it can be domesticated, and with sufficient investment in poultry processing plants its meat can be supplied to the Middle East and other BRI countries.

Early harvest projects and short-term measures can also ease the energy crisis. Pakistan has a huge potential in solar energy as most of its areas receive sunlight for at least eight hours every day. Promoting use of subsidised solar panels in the new domestic and industrial infrastructures can reduce dependence on the national grid.

Germany’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are the envy of the world and the backbone of German economy. Being highly innovative, these SMEs not only provide sufficient employment opportunities but also have a significant contribution to Germany’s economic growth.

The recent agreements in the automobile and halal meat sector with Malaysia show the shift in policy vis-à-vis economy and trade relations with neighbouring countries. Government can promote and incentivise Pakistan-based investors to invest in the automobile sector’s auxiliary industry through SMEs, which may include manufacturing car door latches, seat covers, air and oil filters, tyres, and windows. Within two years, the minimum time needed to set up a functional car manufacturing plant, these SMEs can contribute towards economic growth and unemployment reduction while supplying parts to currently operating car-manufacturing plants, and eventually meeting the demand from new plants.

One of the major stumbling blocks in the implementation of these endeavours is the dearth of skilled manpower. This issue can only be addressed by first identifying feasible areas and setting up training and vocational institutes accordingly. At the same time, there is a dire need to inculcate the importance of quality among businessmen and labour alike.

In order to support the prime minister of Pakistan in his resolve to truly implement the characteristics of the welfare state of Medina in Pakistan, the nation should hold on to values like thriftiness, hard work, emphasis on scholarship, loyalty to family and friends and above all, always placing national interest above individual interests.

The writer is a doctoral candidate at the University of Science and Technology, Beijing, China. He can be reached at muhammadharis@hotmail.com