In a survey conducted by Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and global brand consultants BAV Consulting to assess the best countries in 2017, Pakistan has been projected as the 20th most powerful economy in the world and 74th in the category of overall top countries. The new global ranking of the best countries puts India at the 16th position and at 25th in overall best countries category. However, Pakistan is ranked 40th in terms of being an influential country and the last among 80 evaluated countries in education category. At least 21,000 top businessmen, political elites and common citizens were consulted to assess the economic performance of various countries in which Switzerland emerged as the No 1 and the United States 7th after falling from 4th position it was holding last year. The United States has still been ranked as No1 in the category of most powerful nation, followed by Russia, China, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Under different heads, Pakistan is ranked 61th among the emerging economies, 59th in the entrepreneurship category, 75th in headquarters a corporation, 76th in transparency, 77th in quality of life, 78th in adventure and 79th in travel alone category. The United States has shed its points in the areas of business, citizenship, adventure tourism, education, transparency and headquartering a corporation. At least 80 top countries are evaluated across a range of criteria, from economic development to their global perception. In Asian economies, Japan has moved up two points up to grab 5th position this year whereas China is ranked 20th among the overall best countries.
As regard to Pakistan, it is ahead of many regional economies under different heads but desperately needs political stability and financial management. The exports of the country have been falling, debt burden is rising and energy crisis still exist despite the present government is near to complete its four years in the office. The government is still short of technocrats and policy advisers to leading the country to the next phase of the economic journey. Despite the fact that the world media has begun to realize the good performance of the Pakistan’s economy, it still has to go a long way to achieve the cherished goal of prosperity. The nation is always in disagreement even on vital issues and far from reaching consensus on any point from politics to economy and security to foreign affairs. However, the development process is gaining momentum and every citizens of the nation should work hard to keep this process in running mode.
