Pakistan is a land of vast potential and countless opportunities, of breathtaking landscapes and hospitable people, of rich traditions and unmatched resilience. Pakistan is now set to embark a new path of progress, peace and prosperity. ‘Emerging Pakistan’ is the narrative of a youthful and vibrant Pakistan; full of hope and passion; with abundant resources and opportunities; open to new ideas and ventures in the areas of manufacturing, human capital, natural resources, agriculture and communication.
Manufacturing
In 2016, BMI Research report named Pakistan as one of the ten emerging economies with a particular focus on of its manufacturing hub. Sialkot, located in Pakistan, is the world’s largest producer of hand sewn footballs. Local factories in the region produce 40-60 million footballs a year, which is roughly 50-70% of the world’s total production.
Human Capital
According to a poll organized by the Institute of European Business Administration, from 125 countries, Pakistanis have been ranked the fourth most intelligent people across the globe. Pakistan has the seventh largest collection of scientists and engineers.
Natural Resources
Pakistan is ranked 95th in terms of industrial production even though it has 4th largest coal and 7th largest copper reserves in the world. The Khewra Mines are Pakistan’s oldest and the world’s second largest salt mines. Pakistan is famous for jewellery products and one of the largest producers of jewellery. The gold and silver jewellery made by Pakistani artists is loved by people all around the world.
Pakistan holds 4 out of the top 14 highest peaks in the world; K-2 is the 2nd highest mountain in the world. Pakistan has the world’s highest paved international road – the Karakoram highway, which is said to be the 8th wonder of the world.
Gwadar port is the largest deep-sea port in the world, located at the South Western Arabian Sea, along the coast line of Balochistan, Pakistan. This port is considered a lifeline in the region’s economy. Pakistan has agreed on a collaboration with China to turn Gwadar into a full scale commercial port under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
[ads1]
Agriculture
Pakistan has the largest canal-based irrigation system in the world. About 25% of Pakistan’s total land area is under cultivation and is watered by the largest irrigation system in the world. Pakistan irrigates three times more acres than Russia.
Communication
Pakistan is ranked 4th in terms of broadband internet growth in the world. Due to the emergence of 3G and 4G, the size of e-commerce market, one of the most important drivers of a digital Pakistan, is expected to grow up to US $ 1 billion by 2020. Pakistan is making good progress on Business to Business (B2B) front as software industry aims to achieve the goal of US $5 billion export mark by year 2020 through software development and service out-sourcing.
Pakistan is a developing country and is one of the Next Eleven, the eleven countries that have the potential to be among the world’s large economies in the 21st century. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, based on projected Global GDP by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) by 2030, Pakistan will be ranked amongst top 20 powerful economies.
Pakistan is the world’s first Islamic country to attain nuclear power and it has one of the strongest world armies. It ranks 24th in the largest economies of the world and has been upgraded to MSCI Emerging Markets Index in 2017. The World Bank predicts that by 2018, Pakistan’s economic growth will increase to a “robust” 5.4% due to greater inflow of foreign investment, mainly from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.The CPEC is still a work in progress, but it has already pushed Pakistan’s economy up by several rankings on the global competitiveness scale. According to a World Economic Forum Report published in September 2017, Pakistan now ranks 115th out of the 137 countries. While this ranking is still low compared to neighboring countries, it posts a considerable improvement from its previous 122th position last year, and its 133th position in 2014.
[box type=”note” align=”” class=”” width=””]The writer is a Karachi based freelance columnist and is a banker by profession. He could be reached on Twitter @ReluctantAhsan[/box]