That Davos Spell!

Even the terminally illiterate get under the spell of “the Magic Mountain” towering over Davos. As billed, DAVOS 2007 lived up to its expectations. Maybe a few less Heads of State and Government than is usual, but akin to “combat fatigue” there is “conference overkill.” The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Event may have been depleted in numbers in the “leadership” category, the deficiency being made up and more by the number of top private entrepreneurs, academics, senior corporate executives, media personalities, NGO’s representatives, etc gracing the ski resort this year.

The Annual Meeting theme this year was “climate change,” what the experts had to say was scary, to say the least. Environmental impact notwithstanding, climate change is a direct threat to security. As the world temperature rises and the glaciers melt, the water level will submerge many islands and cause population shift, conversely in other areas as water dries up entire populations will tend to migrate to greener pastures. Sharing of water has always been a point of contention through the ages, many conflicts over H2O have been recorded, from retaining possession of small water holes to trying to take control of great rivers. The next great conflict may well be over control of water resources. No wonder EU leaders like Tony Blair, Angela Markel, Gordon Brown, etc were joined by a host of leaders of various disciplines in encouraging responsible water management and lessening the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on the atmosphere.

Two years in a row one has been privileged to see our national leaders make their impact on Davos. Pervez Musharraf was     outstanding    in    2006  in   protecting   Pakistan’s    case economically and in protecting our stance geo-politically. When he appointed Shaukat Aziz as PM in 2004, I thought it was at best a gamble. As any friend of Shaukat’s would feel, he was at much greater personal risk from terrorists than the better protected President. I was also concerned about a banker lasting in our political turmoil, even at the best of times. After the Attock attempt Pervez Musharraf’s investment became far better guarded. In Davos 2007 Musharraf’s calculated risk in making Shaukat Aziz PM came good internationally. The PM has already proved himself a pretty sophisticated political animal at home.

Shaukat Aziz in 2007 equalled, if not surpassed the performance of Musharraf at WEF’s Annual meeting in January 2006 where Musharraf overshadowed other leaders. The maturity from a Citi-banker into a national leadership role is both remarkable and fascinating.  Whether he was speaking to the C-100 (Council of 100 leaders) on Inter-faith harmony or on “terrorism” (in which Pakistan was the subject of cynosure) or to a select breakfast audience of 200 plus at 7:30 in the morning on a wide range of issues while a snowstorm raged outside, he was in his element and clearly relishing it. While Musharraf is in a class of his own in wowing western audiences, not since Ms Benazir’s charisma gave Pakistan enormous lustre at Davos in 1994, have I seen the hard-bitten elite assembling each year for the WEF Annual Meeting being so taken. Blunt and forthright, Musharraf’s delivery is extremely effective in being credible with the normally skeptical intelligentsia. Taking lessons from his mentor’s success Shaukat Aziz has come of age himself. Howsoever it has happened, he is an elected Prime Minister, a Pakistani civilian leader who comes across as credible and articulate on the world stage – this is a rarity. One felt proud as a friend, more importantly Shaukat Aziz at Davos made one feel proud as a Pakistani.

There are enormous benefits to be derived from Davos. India’s present economic success is in the same measure due to the networking its business community has engaged in relentlessly in WEF for the last 15 years, a fair measure of foreign direct investment into India is because of the personal connections Indian industrial and commercial elite have forged with their western counterparts. Unfortunately Pakistan’s private business presence is negligible, not enough to be effective commercially. To start with there were present only three Pakistani private sector participants, Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Capital (based in UAE), Hussain Dawood of Dawood Group and myself. Compare this with over 100 from India.  Arif Naqvi is in a league of his own and surpasses many of his Indian counterparts and Hussain Dawood is certainly a titan of industry rivaling their best, one cannot deny Zakir Mahmood President Habib Bank his place in the economic sun. However Aftab Manzoor is no substitute for Mian Mansha. Representing the public sector and on the verge of privatization, PSO had Managing Director Jalees Siddiqui and PIA by Tariq Kirmani in Davos, but what was PIA doing in the Annual Meeting? No airline of any country is a member of the WEF, least of all one in as much financial trouble as PIA. What is the corporate benefit PIA derives spending around almost US$50000 for Annual Membership and the Davos junket, not including airfares, accommodation and transport, etc, escapes me. What is needed are more Pakistani private sector entrepreneurs, not salaried executives on expense account. Public sector money should not be wasted on individual extravaganza and/or projection unless it counts. The PM should use his good offices to persuade our commercial elite to try and become members of the WEF, and conversely persuade WEF to relax its stringent conditions to get at least 10-15 more Pakistani private entities as members. Arif Naqvi has started a concerted campaign to enhance private sector Pakistani membership, more power to this brilliant young Pakistani entrepreneur, at least he puts his own hard earned money at risk!  Though it was his first time Karachi’s Nazim, Mustafa Kamal Syed used the opportunity quite effectively.

Our official diplomatic mission in Geneva (accredited to the UN) handles WEF affairs, including coordinating the visit of the Pakistani Head of State or Government as the case may be. Normally their performance is studiously bureaucratic. Given the present security restrictions this can be quite challenging in any case. While Ambassador Masood Khan and his team did excellent work in 2006, this year they were quite outstanding. The PM (and Pakistan) must be grateful for the tremendous staff work and logistics coordination that went into making his Davos visit an outstanding success. It would be unfair to single out any individual given that it is all teamwork and combination of unsung unknown heroes, it would be equally unfair not to single out First Secretary Aftab Khokher for his remarkable cool and poise while orchestrating “mission impossible”. Generally skeptical about Foreign Service bureaucrats, one has to acknowledge there is a refreshing change in their attitude for the better. This will stand Pakistan in good stead diplomatically in the present and the future.

We need a permanent private sector Pakistan entity looking after WEF affairs with Pakistan, coordinating this through the Pakistan Mission at Geneva. Unless our entrepreneurial skills and talent are displayed on the world stage through an important medium like the WEF, the “great leap forward” that other emerging countries are well on their way to achieving will be beyond us.

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