This is a continuation and an expansion of the previous essay entitled: Under Musharraf

The purpose of this essay is, once again, to bring to your attention the wide-scale economic development currently being witnessed by Pakistan as well as the numerous large scale projects being implemented throughout Pakistan under President Musharraf.

As noted before, these facts are hardly ever mentioned on our news channels. As a result, many individuals seriously believe that nothing positive is taking place in Pakistan, that nothing has been achieved under President Musharraf, and that all is dark and gloomy etc. In reality, however, we have never witnessed as much economic growth in the history of Pakistan as is currently taking place. Never have we witnessed so much investment in Pakistan. Never have we witnessed so much boom in the economic sector. By large, things are heading in the right direction and, overall, the country has seen a significant improvement in almost every sphere and department.

With only a few exceptions, references have been provided for all of the points at the end of this paper.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Musharraf Era performance: Pakistan Flourishes

Mirza Rohail Baig

This is all the more amazing when one considers that just five years ago, Pakistan was on the verge of bankruptcy, with only a little more than $1 billion in foreign exchange reserves, its stock market teetering at 1,000 points (worth $5 billion only) and foreign debt servicing at 65% of GDP.

The forex reserves now stand at over $16.5 billion. The once ever-declining rupee has been stable at around 60-61 to a dollar since Musharraf took over. Of the 184 member countries of the IMF, Pakistan’s rate of economic growth (7%) has been one of the best in the world. Moreover, the Karachi stock market is now above 13,000 points and worth around $65 billion. On top of that, foreign debt servicing has now decreased to 28%.

1. The Pakistan economy is among the fastest growing economies in the world, having reached the size of $160 billion from a mere $70 billion in 1999. Furthermore, Pakistan attracted a record investment of $6 billion last year.

2. 2007: National revenues had swelled from Rs 308 billion during 1988-99 to around a trillion in 2007 and the FBR now estimates 2.8 million income tax payers.

3. Public sector development program (PSDP) has grown from Rs 80 billion in 1999 to Rs 520 billion in 2007.

4. FACT: The rate of growth in Pakistan’s Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) is at a 30-year high. Construction activity is at a 17-year high.

5. FACT: The Infrastructure Industries Index, which measures the performance of seven industries (i.e., Electricity generation, Natural gas, Crude oil, Petroleum products, Basic metal, Cement and coal) has recorded a 26.2 percent growth in the Industrial sector of Pakistan.

6. FACT: Jan 14: According to the National Education Census (NEC-2005), Pakistan now has a total of 245,682 Educational institutions in all categories, including 164,579 (i.e. 67%) in the public sector and 81,103 (i.e. 33%) in the private sector.

The census — jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education, the Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) — reveals that the number of private-sector institutions has increased from 36,096 in 1999-2000 to 81,103 in 2005, i.e. by 100%. Educational Institutions have increased by 45,007 in the Musharraf Era.

7. FACT: According to an IMF report, Pakistan is 3rd in Banking profitability in the world. On the IMF chart, Pakistan’s banking profitability is on third position after Colombia and Venezuela. On the same IMF chart, India is on the 36th position and China is on the 40th position.

8. FACT: According to a report entitled, “Doing Business in 2006,” co-sponsored by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Pakistan globally ranks 10th among the countries most active in pursuing pro-business policies.

9. In 1999 what we earned as GDP: we used to give away 64.1% as foreign debt and liabilities. In 2006, what we earned as GDP: we gave ONLY 28.3% as foreign debt and liabilities. We are now SAVING 35% of our GDP for economic growth.

10. According to the Economic Survey 2005, poverty in Pakistan in 2001 was 34.46%. And now, after 7-8 years of Musharraf, poverty in 2005 was 23.9%. Thus, poverty DECREASED by 10.56%. Overall, 12 million people have been pushed out of Poverty in 2001 – 2005!

11. Literacy rate in Pakistan has increased from 45% (in 2002) to 53% (in 2005). Education now receives 4% of GDP and English has been introduced as a compulsory subject from grade 1.

12. 12-4-07: The IT industry, which was virtually non-existent seven years ago, has grown to be worth $2 billion of which $1 billion is export related. It registered a 50% growth. 55 foreign IT companies have already entered the market. Now the I.T. sector alone employs 90,000 professionals.

13. Nov 2006: President Musharraf said that Pakistan will set up Nine Engineering World Class Science and Technology Federal Universities by 2008 with foreign assistance. He said the institutions of higher learning would be established in collaboration with Italy, South Korea, Japan, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and China. The Cost of building these Universities will be over Rs 96.5 billion.

The Vice Chancellors, Heads of department, Professors and Faculty of the planned university will be from these foreign Universities, while the examination system, the quality assurance followed, as well as the Degree awarded will also be from these foreign Universities.

14. The Government has approved to give at least 4% of GDP to Education in the 2007 budget.

15. In 1999-2000 there were 31 Public Universities. Now 2005-2006 there are 49 Public Universities.

Air University (established 2002); Institute of Space technology, ISB (established 2002); Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, Quetta (established 2004); University of Science & Technology, Bannu (established 2005); University of Hazara (founded 2002); Malakand university, Chakdara (established 2002); Karakurum International university, Gilgit (established 2002); University of Gujrat (established 2004); Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore (established 2002); Sarhad University of IT, Peshawar (established 2001); etc.

16. 6-member delegation of Australian Department of Education, Science & Technology and AusAID, visited Pakistan on the request of PM Shaukat Aziz in order to help Pakistan in its efforts to realign its TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) according to the market needs. Chairman NAVTEC, Altaf Saleem, informed the delegation about NAVTEC plans to increase the capacity to train one million people annually by 2010 from the present annual capacity of 320,000.

17. Defense Exports of Pakistan have crossed the $200 million mark as the country’s robust Defense manufacturing industry continues to expand. This was disclosed by Major General Syed Absar Hussain, Director General, Defense Export Promotion Organization (“International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2006″ held at karachi.).

18. President Musharraf inaugurated an 18 Mega Watt Naltar hydro power project, of over Rs. 1.36 billion. The project was completed in four years at Naltar near Gilgit.

19. Pakistan is now in Large-scale Nuclear expansion. The reactor under construction could produce over 200kg of weapons-grade plutonium per year, assuming it operates at full power for a modest 220 days per year. At 4 to 5 kilograms of plutonium per weapon, this stock would allow the production of 40-50 Nuclear weapons a year.

20. The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) of Hong Kong will sign a concession agreement for setting up a US$1 billion Deep-water container port, the first in Pakistan. KPT will invest $450 million for infrastructure development for the project. HPH will invest $557 million. In the first phase, a 1,500m quay wall will be built with a designed dept of 18m.

21. GILGIT: President Musharraf inaugurated the dry port in the border town of Sust, 200 km north of Gilgit. The Dry port, a Pakistan-China joint venture, was built in 2004 at a cost of Rs90 million, on a height of 10,000-foot.

22. Dec 2006: President Musharraf said that many canals, including the Thal and Raini canals, were being constructed for better utilization of the available water. He said Rs66 billion was being spent on the brick-lining of 87,000 canals in the country, adding that 6,000 new canals would be brick-lined next year.

23. The Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) has approved expansion of Tarbela dam power project which would generate 960 MW costing $500 million.

24. President Musharraf recently inaugurated the Mirani Dam. Mirani Dam in Kech area of Mekran district, with a catchment area of 12,000 square kilometer, has been built in four years at a cost of Rs6 billion which includes Rs1.5 billion in compensation to the affected people. It will have a storage capacity of over 300,000 million acre feet of water.

25. Gomal Zam Dam: This project started in Aug 2002 and is expected to be completed in early 2008. It is located in the Damaan in NWFP. It is 437 feet high and will irrigate about 163,000 acres of land. The total costs amounts to Rs. 12 billion, with a gross storage of 1.14 MAF. It will produce 17.4 MW of electricity.

26. Mushrraf says the government is constructing the Katchi Canal, costing Rs40 billion, and that Punjab had been gracious to provide land for the 350 kilometer stretch which will pass through the province.

27. The Economic Coordination Committee decided to set up a $2-billion mega Oil refinery at Khalifa Point in district Hub, Balochistan. The refinery, commissioned by 2010, would have a maximum refining capacity of 13 million tons of petroleum products — higher than the country’s total existing capacity of 12.8 million tons.

28. Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) during the quarter July-Sept 2007 recorded the highest ever-sales figure of Rs 9.3012 billion.

29. The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector of Pakistan has attracted over Rs 70 billion investments during the last five years as a result of liberal and encouraging policies of the government. Presently, some 1,765 CNG stations are operating in the country, in 85 cities and towns, and 1000 more would be set-up in the next three years. It has provided employment for 30,000 people in the country.

30. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 1,135 companies during the first quarter (July-September 2007). With the new registrations the total number of registered companies with SECP as of September 30 reached 50,125.

31. Telecom sector has attracted an investment of $ 9 billion in the last three years. It alone created 80,000 jobs directly and 500,000 jobs indirectly.

32. Former corrupt and incompetent Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, made only one motorway – M2 (Lahore – Islamabad). Under Musharraf 6 motorways are either completed or under construction:

•M1 (Islamabad to Peshawar) – (Rs.13 bn) – [155 km] – (started 2003 – Completed Oct 2007)
•M3 (Pindi to Faisalabad) – (Rs.5.6 bn) – [53 km] – (started 2002 – Completed 2004)
•M8 (Gwadar to Ratodero) – [1072 km] – (started 2004 – will complete 2009)
•M9 (Karachi to Hyderabad) – (Rs.6.3 bn) – [136 km]
•M10 (Karachi Northern bypass) – (Rs 3.5 bn) – [56 km] – (completed 2007)
•M11 (Lahore to Sialkot) – (Rs.23 bn) –[101 km] – (started 2006 – under construction)

33. Under Musharraf various highways under construction throughout the country. Including N5, N-25, N-35, N-45, N-50, N-55, N-65, N-70, N-75, N-80, S-1, etc.

34. General Pervez Musharraf inaugurated the Makran Coastal Highway (N-10) project in August 2001, consisting of Karachi-Gwadar, Pasni-Gwadar, and Ormara-Liari (Balochistan) Highways. The cost of the Liari-Ormara Highway was Rs3.9 billion and that of Pasni-Gwadar Highway, Rs2.8 billion respectively. The total length of Makran Coastal Highway is 533 kilometers.

35. 2-12-07: Sialkot International Airport Limited (SIAL) completed. The 1,002-acre airport is 13 km west of Sialkot and is linked by a road to Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Narowal, the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and the Sialkot Dry Port Trust.

36. Ghandara International Airport (Islamabad) the first-ever green-field airport being built at a cost of $400 million; with a renowned international consultant, Louis Berger Group of USA. President Musharraf laid the foundation stone of the project on April 7, 2007. It will be completed by Dec 2010. Its total area is 3700 acres (15 km^²).

37. Major Industrial estates are being developed under Musharraf’s vision: M3 industrial, Sundar industrial estate, Chakri industrial, etc.

38. Oct 2007: In the current fiscal year the Mining and Quarrying sector has registered a growth rate of 5.6 percent. Increased growth was propelled by strong growths recorded in magnetite (30 percent), dolomite (26.1 percent), Limestone (25.2 percent) and chromites.

39. The government has already started various initiatives, to discover and develop world-class copper-gold deposits in Chagai Baluchistan by Australian Firms which would fetch $500 million to $600 million per year.

40. Major reserves of COPPER & GOLD in Baluchistan’s Rekodiq area were discovered in early 2006. It has ranked Rekodiq among the world’s top seven copper reserves. The Rekodiq mining area has proven estimated reserves of 2 billion tons of copper and 20 million ounces of gold. According to the current market price, the value of the deposits has been estimated at about $65 billion, which would generate thousands of jobs.

41. Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) recently approved 45 developmental projects in its meeting, including six revised projects, with a total cost of Rs 154.1 billion and with a foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs 36.8 billion.

42. Rs 9.8 billion have been allocated for 91 different mega projects at Public Sector Universities across the province, said Sindh Governor Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan.

43. Oct 2007: A fully functional TMS (Tax Management System), including profiling, withholding, return/payment filing, rectification, refunds, audit, and legal tracking is scheduled to be operational by 2007 in Pakistan, to process the tax year 2007 returns, according to World Bank.

44. The government is providing Sui Gas facility to areas of South Punjab at a cost of Rs 1.311 billion. A total of 1,138 kilometre gas pipeline is being laid. The districts benefiting from these schemes mainly include Multan, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Rajanpur, DG Khan, Vehari and Muzaffargarh.

45. The Karachi city government’s rehabilitation of Industrial zones and improvement plan for all four industrial zones of the city needs to be completed in 7-8 months. The projects are worth Rs 2.5 billion whereas the ‘beautification’ project worth Rs 4.5 billion.

46. 27-11-07: Pakistan Navy Ship Zarrar, the first of Multi-Role Tactical Platform (MRTP-33), was commissioned into Pakistan Navy at a ceremony at PN Dockyard.

47. 29-12-07: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal said the construction work of a 47-storey IT Tower in the vicinity of Civic Centre at a cost of $200m would start soon. Around 40,000 youth would get employment in the IT Tower. It will have 10,000 call centres, out of which 6,000 have already been booked so far.

48. The President approved the project of laying of 940-kilometre-long “standard gauge” Railway track between Gwadar and Quetta, with a cost of Rs 75 billion. A German firm won the contract.

49. To increase the income of farmers, the Government is investing Rs7.80 billion, under which a “Food Security Program” will be launched. Initially, it will be launched in 1,000 villages. The President said that Rs 3.60 billion would be invested in live-stocks and dairy sectors. About 1,200 model dairy farms and 2,950 cattle breeding farms will be established under this investment project.

50. Pakistan will launch a Self-controlled Remote Sensing Satellite System (RSSS), at a cost of Rs19.3 billion, to ensure strategic and unconditional supply of satellite remote sensing data for any part of the globe over the year. SUPARCO will implement it over a period of six years. President Musharraf has approved the project in principle.

51. The Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, inaugurated the DUHS Medical Research City with Dow Diagnostic Reference and Research Laboratories and Jinnah Genome Centre as its important components. He also laid the foundation stone for a library and sports complex which houses different constituent institutions of the university.

52. President Musharraf inaugurated a 50-bed state-of-the-art Workers Welfare Fund Kidney Centre. The first-ever kidney centre in Baluchistan, constructed on 7.5 acres, at a cost of Rs385 million, and having the diagnostic, dialysis, surgical and lab facilities, will help the people of this area.

53. Karachi: The building of the 50-bed Kidney Centre in Landhi has been completed. Minister Muhammad Adil Siddiqui said that the building of this centre had been built at a cost of Rs70 million.

54. CM Pervaiz Elahi inaugurated Pakistan’s first Software technology park (STP) on Ferozpur Road, to be implemented by Punjab IT Board (PITB). The Rs 1.5 billion project is set over an area of 32 kanals; will be completed in 12 months and is expected to directly create 10,000 jobs and generate economic activity of Rs 9 billion per year.

55. In what is considered a major leap for Pakistan, a Polytechnic Institute is being established to produce skilled workforce that will rescue the manufacturing industry from the clutches of foreign dependence. Being built in Korangi at a cost of Rs450 million, this government-funded institute will start operating in January 2007 and prepare 500 workers by the end of the first year, besides producing 22 different types of dies and moulds for aviation, telecom, pharmaceutical and other industries. Experts from Germany, Japan and Thailand assisted in developing its curriculum.

56. Police Act 1861 replaced by Police Order 2002 after 141 years. Police force divided into three separate wings: Watch and ward, Investigation and Prosecution.

57. Federal Minister for Commerce, in order to modernize tobacco farming in the country, is setting up a state-of-the-art Tobacco Research Centre in Bunner. Annually 8 million kilograms of Virginia tobacco (fine quality), worth Rs 9.2 billion is cultivated in Bunner. Under construction.

See also:

• Musharraf Era: Ushers in Multi-Nationals Corporations & booms Private sector Business
• Under Musharraf
• ECONOMIC GROWTH IN PAKISTAN
• Post-Musharraf scenario please . . .

References

1. Source

2. Revenues

3. PSDP

4. n/a

5. Industries Index

6. Education Institutes

7. Banking

8. Business

9. n/a

10. Poverty

11. n/a

12. IT

13. 9 Uni

14. n/a

15. Uni HEC

16. Navtec

17. Defense exports

18. Naltar

19. Nuclear

20. Deep port

21. Sust Port

22. Brick lining canals

23. Tarbela

24. Mirani

25. Gomal Zam

26. Katchi canal

27. n/a

28. Steel Mills

29. CNG

30. SECP

31. Telecom

32. Motorways

33. Highways

34. Makran coastal

35. Sialkot Airport

36. Ghandara Airport

37. M3

Sundar

Sundar

Chakri

38. Mining and Quarrying

39. Chagai

40. Rekodiq

41. ECNEC

42. Public Uni

43. n/a

44. Sui

45. Source

46. Zarrar

47. IT Tower

48. Railway track

49. Farms

50. RSSS

51. DUHS

52. Kidney

53. n/a

54. IT park

55. n/a

56. Police Act

57. Bunner

++++++++

© Musharraf Supporters 2008 All rights reserved