Engr. M. A. Jabbar
THE Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) a civil-military partnership is notified structure to create business enabling environment towards the need of attracting investment which per World Bank:
“Reforms for brighter future: time to decide: Pakistan has $88 billion export potential, $2.8 billion FDI potential and 7-8 percent GDP growth by raising investment to 25 percent of GDP. The Bank recommended prioritizing investments that support growth and development financed by a broad-based, efficient, and equitable tax system.”
Pakistan is 46th largest in terms of nominal GDP and being 5th populus nation at ~ 50th and ~ 60th number in ‘E’ and ‘I’ trade figures with human capital index value lower than South Asia’s average, which needs to increase its competitive and doing business index through investment-oriented policies facilitated by the strength of the partnership structured for operation of SIFC . The present FDI in Pakistan is less than Myanmar, which needs a U-turn or about turn, for which the strength of the SIFC and enforcement through it would be catalyst towards the objective needs of the country to dent the present poverty increasing to 40%, a very dismal performing economy, which needs to take itself out from poverty and middle income poverty to prosperity band.
The present structure of SIFC needs to take bold decision by reforming the delivery of services by complete overall of the present administrative system, which has failed to achieve any objective set for any incoming flows namely from World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other bilateral and multilateral grants and aids. As per IMF the line ministries or economic ministries must be detached from the present conventional system of administration which was made for colonial and not for todays digitalized and AI environment requiring professionals rather than governing system most suitable for checking the violation of section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) empowering district administration to issue orders in public interest that may place a ban on an activity.
Therefore, SIFC on taking measures on administrative and economic management reforms can assure success of even the best of best well placed cascaded policies, which requires efficient and professional tools with accountability thereof to steer the objectives of the committee.
A think tank of professionals as a support be provided for integration to the ongoing think tank force decisions so that the workable idea in the crises becomes the guidelines for simultaneous required reforms for a better future of the country for which world bank has also suggested:
“10 years economic plan proposing several measures including increasing taxes on agriculture and real state sectors, change in tax system from regressive to direct and progressive as well as slashing tax exemptions for certain sectors making it more targeted for poor to turn around the country.”
One would also like to see that SIFC reforms the statistical bureaus to update the figures as caretaker Finance Minister on SOEs referred to year 2020 with losses of Rs. 500 Billion, That shows that FM was provided access to figures of 2020, considering the updated figures not being authentic. SIFC need to also enforce the data warehousing through digitalized and on real time reporting basis. The country cannot road map itself for future if the caretaker ministers are given figures of 2020 to talk in end of 3rd quarter of 2023 for public consumption.
The political economy of energy, enabling and progressive plan for reducing the import oriented consumption, which touched the figure of 80 I Billion dollars against less than 30 E Billion Dollars may constitute priorities for SIFC. The in step making the efforts of made in Pakistan should be prime objective, for which policy on short time, medium term be also made to work so that in time to come we have structured strength of economy wherein the comfort of competitive indexation will serve the objective of prosperity achievement.
The agreements bilateral, multilateral, plurilateral or MRA needs knowledge based cross bordering to ink the agreements, which presently are imbalanced and not win win situation basis. The present for and against IMF front loadings would require a win win situation through knowledge based cross bordering, which in case of Pakistan for sure was not matching to other side well rich with the knowledge and current settlement of queries of Pakistan side on the table. IMF doesn’t say any thing which is bad but what has to be said from both side to make is a working outcome based on our circumstances is possible but then our side is not so professional to really win against the other side loaded with knowledge. The excuses such as “beggars cannot be choosers” by our side is manifested admission of weaknesses expressed in alternate language. SIFC should consider the present situation of non-matching knowledge in negotiating win win situation in agreements for the country. Take help of external honest pro Pakistani forces to help our weak negotiators instead of negotiating due to proprietary role of being bureaucrats to participate in such complicated games. Due to non-matching skill SIFC should also take just and fair view of the position that our negotiators should have if not more but atleast same level skill of negotiation. Why Pakistan loses in all international arbitrations? The question has been settled here above.
The SIFC is expected to structure a policy in which fiscal and monetary side work in tandem to produce the objective result as are projected, approved or as are taken up measures in case of emergency or special needs, when adversely affected by external reasons.
The tax policy and its consistence and simplification are other challenges as much in the past was conceived, contributed by locals and donors but not much was put to practice, such as tax policy unit notified but not yet working. FBR should only be focusing tax collection and finding the gaps for improvement in order to move towards traceability, visibility and accountability model for both tax collectors and tax payers besides broadening the tax net, which remains a desire since promulgation of ordinances during the time of Gen Pervez Musharraf for broadening the tax. The experts given positions either as state ministers or ministers have been voicing for a big size of high net-worth potential individuals and companies identified being capable of contributing to tax increase but yet situation for a real enforcement and execution remains out of the site. SIFC should collect all these tall datas to find out the mechanism with the strength of SIFC to raise the tax revenue and as well as broaden the tax. The data ware housing started since 2000 from the time of Gen Parvez Musharraf wherein door to door visits were made to find out the sources of tax collections. However, now there is a hope that the way FE market and hoarding economics is getting controlled, similar pattern for sure would add to our tax revenue whose potential is 20,000 Billion Rupees, which will save us from diluting the adversary of crises such as of today.
SIFC should find the reasons of low FDI from line Ministries and Economic Ministries, in specific from Commerce, FBR and BOI as what are the reasons for lower FDI than incoming to Myanmar. The comparison of collected history with datas in Pakistan with the global matrix or prerequisites for increasing the FDI can also help us in making a policy or creating a business enabling environment for investors to come in the country with available domestic sales volume and exportable surpluses for overseas markets. SIFC and its structured committee levels can cross border for structural analysis and its operational requirements for the need of supporting the economic growth. The societal development as a prerequisite for creating the tranquility in conducting smooth business without conflicts and contradictions is also based on efforts towards quality education in which the component of science and technology are to be used by considering the Science and Technology Ministry and its organizations as probable tools for increasing the science, engineering and mathematic based workings to affect the outputs out of efficient and critically balanced employed resources in a resource constraint situation as we are facing today. The global collaboration policy and its structure will help us in access to external resources as partnership and venture capitals and as JVs. The respect and preservation of intellectual property rights, the universities, research institutions, industries together should practically workout to a perfect industry – academia linkage to workout the benefits required in the societal development. The review of regulatory reforms and squeezing the same to meaningful regulation in the interest of state of consumer economics should be the direction and not the inspections for only handshaking purpose, which is existing now. The scenario of reforms through the strength of civil – military partnership under SIFC can promise the policies to stay as sustainable would definitely merit to cause economic growth, which is the ultimate objective “prosperity with reforms and without crime” is the subject for achievement in order to elevate the rank of poor number economy to a number which may not much leg behind the fifth populus nation staying around 50th destination of economy amongst the global economies.
The outcome performance of SIFC alone in two to three required corrections appears to be either professionally being improved or the same professionals are keeping the alert to the needs under the civil – military partnership and oversight to sustain the solution of issues to continue and it appears that this partnership is working well and expected to be working better not without civil – military partnership.
The SIFC should also force to introduce the reconstitution of all the boards of companies to conduct the business on professionalism as almost most of the boards have a wrong composition out of alignment with professional knowledge and practice. The boards should be very carefully constituted by some credible group under the umbrella of SIFC so that the Board would delegate power to the management under a policy of strict watch on their performance, which presently in most of the cases have collected losses and collect the same on yearly basis and further remain of questionable conduct which is more in favor of vested and private interest rather than public interest. This way SIFC can delegate the reliance on appropriate groups to report the performance and be answerable to departed performance against KPIs so that the patent of political supported persons in the Board should themselves opt to be away as the accountability will overtake their desire to just stay to award some favors and be in league with management on the ill counts, without which as rightly said by Caretaker Finance Minister that Rs 500 Billion losses @ 2020 have been commissioned. It is only the strength of this partnership which can takeout the dust and restore the things to progress. The civil – military partnership should also be based on well screened caretakers and more filtered bureaucrats and government functionaries to offer a promising Pakistan, which is bleeding for being unaccountable for those functionaries who have done not much and are not expected to be doing much. The trial over trial of the same person given decision making positions does not suggest or promise any change, this angle has to be preserved by SIFC. The professionalism should be substituting the present bureaucracy which has only gained the vertical scales but the economy remains scattered in wild horizonal situation. The SIFC beside should also have very strong accountability bureau and with honesty the one who is accountable should be made accountable in order to correct things on voluntarily basis in time to come instead of offering race basis of bureaucrats seeking lucrative and important positions. The concept of important and lucrative definition in our country requires now just and fair definition but what we seek on surface itself settles for appropriate answers. Everybody at top position needs private strong political connections to become private servant rather than public servant. SIFC must sweep to clean governance and in specific economic governance and weaknesses thereof or the reasons of the present economic crises. The PM does not loud at less frequency by saying that the ill performance of decades due to ill performance of those who were managing and so the multilaterals also say so. SIFC must engage to eradicate this menace without which the use of resources sometimes if not meaning less but touch lowest band of progress proportionate to size of resources employed for.
The role of SIFC is attending public acceptance as a recourse to help the ailing economy to come out of the crises. One can also appreciate that the executive committee of the SIFC has sought a report from Ministry of Foreign Affairs on an approach composite dialogue with India and other issues. This shows that SIFC is also getting equally convergent to understand to resolve issue related to GEO economics and politics.
Let’s hope that this partnership achieves its objectives towards societal development.
