The foreign missions situated in the Red Zone have been closed down for five days owing to volatile situation in the area while no party seems to be in a mood to accommodate the other in the current political spectrum. In this scenario one wonders where Pakistan will stand in 2050 predicted by Jim O’Neill, a British economist, that the country has the potential to become 18th largest economy in the world.
In his book The Growth Map,O’Neill believes that there are prominent chances for Pakistan to become part of the Next 11 (N-11) group of nations which includes Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam. In his view Pakistan has the potential to become the 18th largest economy of the world by 2050, leaving behind many growing and strong economies. The renowned economist has earlier coined the term BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China as large economies and another term MINT — covering Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. He also predicts that Pakistan’s GDP will be almost equal to the size of the current German economy — $3.33 trillion by 2050.At the moment, Pakistan is at 44th with a GDP of $225.14 billion in the list of the world economies.
The problem in Pakistan has never beenat the policy-making stage, but the implementation level as is evident by the third five-year plan when Pakistan had recorded double digit growth in every sector of the economy in early 60s. South Korea, which was reeling under utter poverty at the time, sent a delegation of experts to research the causes of the growth in the Pakistani economy. Still at this juncture the economic indicators suggest that Pakistan is a potentially rich country, but the question is why more than 35 percent of its population lives below the poverty line.It must be a point to ponder for the country’s politicians who do not tired of making tall claims to make Pakistan an Asian tiger. The rulers of the country never tried to explore or understand the real causes which hinder the path of progress and prosperity of this nation.
The current chaos in Islamabad is nothing, but a test for the self-centered political leaders to resolve political issue through political means. It is a time for the politicians across the board to prove their mettle and end the political impasse as soon as possible. At least they should have faculty to respect the country’s values and the national pride in the current situation.
