Making dreams come true
After reaching a historic compromise to reduce budget deficits by almost US$ 75 billion over two years and a fairly upbeat visit of the Russian leader to Washington, the Reagan Administration looked forward to a weekend without unwelcome surprises but it was not to be. A record US$ 17.63 billion October trade deficit announced on Thursday Dec 10, 1987, has retarded the adjustment of global economic imbalances. The dollar continued its downward drift and was at a record 40 year low while the beginning of the rush to gold for shelter caused the crossing of the psychologically important US$ 500 an ounce for the first time since Feb 1983. The October trade deficit has been despite an increase in exports. An increase in import bill particularly from Japan and the four TIGERS of the Far East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and S.Korea more than wiped out the export increase. While all this was happening, Karachi Stock Exchange maintained an upward trend with 179 fluctuations out of which 91 were higher and the index of share prices actually increased 6 points on Dec 14, 1987. As we live in an unreal world, sometimes it makes good sense to stage a comeback to reality by having a dream and making it come true.
Pakistan has a vast OUTBACK in Baluchistan’s hinterland and coastline. Peopled sparsely, this forbidding area is rich in metals and minerals; with a more than large hint of vast deposits of oil and gas. The present geo-political situation in the region immediately west i.e. the Persian Gulf and Iran, can be turned into an economic boon even without its raw material potential provided that the present Government has the will to ensure that long-term plans are executed in a short time. Tremendous effort has been put into development in the Baluchistan Province in the last decade but it needs more, an imaginative innovation to turn this sea of desolation into an ocean of plenty, attracting investment and capital-like bees to honey. Dreams are usually created on the frontiers of civilization.
The port of Karachi maintains Pakistan’s economic lifeline, with Qasim Port, barely 40 kilometers away, acting as a viable alternate. However, the proximity of these two ports to each other has ensured that psychologically as well as physically, Karachi is the focus for all North-South communications with economic progress confined in a funnel on the left bank of Indus narrowing from Multan after the broad expanse of the fertile plains of the Punjab. The right bank of Indus, with the southern part of the Punjab, a major portion of Sindh and almost all of Baluchistan remains under-developed. As you reach the coastline, except for Karachi and the areas immediately adjacent to it, it is almost as if time has stood still since Mohammed Bin Qasim ventured into Sindh. With modern smugglers using Pajeros, motorcycles, wireless sets, automatic weapons and having scant regard for history in the vast solitude of coastal Baluchistan, Qasim would have been in a deep quandary appearing at this time and probably been hauled up as a smuggler by the Pakistan Coast Guards who have even a lesser regard for history but a healthy enduring respect for socio-economic power that the big fish wield in Karachi and whom the Coast Guards never seem to catch.
The Baluchi coastline has vast potential, particularly in view of the Persian Gulf becoming a cauldron of sorts because of the Iran-Iraq war. Pakistan Government has announced plans for two Fish Harbours and one is already under construction at Pasni, the other at Gwadar being in the contract award stage. Both Pasni and Gwadar, particularly Gwadar, are in close proximity to the Persian Gulf but clear of the area infested by mines, gunboats or air attacks. Gwadar must be developed as a FREE PORT, with a minimal tax levied, as less as 3% in and 3% out and it could become a staging area for the whole Persian Gulf as well as for our neighbour Iran. Besides the earnings visualized on export/import of third country goods and commodities alone worth an estimated US$20-30 billion annually i.e. between US$ 2-3 billion monthly, the development that would take place would be tremendous as the infra-structure to support this vast trade is put into place and sets in motion a vast chain reaction of economic potential. Employment opportunities would abound for our people with jobs available across a wide spectrum of expertise, skilled or un-skilled, drawing from the expatriate Pakistani community on its way home from the Gulf. The present stagnation at Karachi along with other accompanying Urban frustrations would be eased with the transfer of population into areas thought to be too desolate to live in but in which a fair segment of the Baluchi population does live. With imaginative planning, a coastal road and a railway line can be planned to connect Karachi to Gwadar via Pasni and Turbat, as well as road connections to join the old RCD Highway as well as North-South rail to connect the Quetta-Zahidan Rail Section, the real infrastructure for our very own “CALIFORNIA” will become a reality. Singapore has attracted many high-tech industries, though it was not in the proximity of the main buyers and the labour cost was prohibitive. With the adjacent Gulf countries and Iran as a market potential and our vastly inexpensive labour, another “Silicon Valley” may yet come up on the coastline of the rocky deserts of Baluchistan.
A myriad number of problems will appear to confound and discourage us, prime among them being the scarcity of potable water and even the willingness to attempt such a gargantuan task. When Karachi was just a sleepy little fishing village, less than a century ago, it was enough to deter the most optimistic dreamer, even our Quaid went off to Bombay to seek his fortune. But our forefathers had a dream and Pakistan emerged as a culmination of their dreams to have an independent homeland. The world is searching for new frontiers in space, cannot we explore our own geographical boundaries and widen the parameters of economic progress by expanding its base? Someone may say that the very idea of a FREE PORT is to legalize smuggling, so be it! When markets across the length and breadth of Pakistan are full of un-taxed, customs duty free products, what is the use of behaving like an ostrich? Singapore is not a smugglers haven and neither is Dubai because they have been deliberately created to resource tax revenues from the flow of trade as a staging port, to take advantage of the economic realities of oil and gas money around them. Do we not owe it to our people, particularly the generations to come, to devise an economic blueprint which will not only siphon off our excess Urban population into new areas of employment and opportunity but create gardens out of desert areas tailor-made for our great agriculture community? Another lateral East-West feeder canal, further south than ever before can be attempted which will make the desert bloom along the expanse of the coastline.
The need of the hour is to establish a Baluchistan Coastal Development Authority, with clear development objectives (1) road and rail communications to Pasni and Gwadar. both laterally and vertically (2) water development by means of feeder canals, intensifying search for ground water and obtaining of water by solar means, etc and (3) control over development of two Free Port Authorities at Pasni and Gwadar. The Gwadar Free Port Authority and the Pasni Free Port Authority would have respective control over (1) development of harbour facilities particularly deep water berths (2) ancillary support facilities on land excluding water and power distribution (3) development of export processing zones and (4) town planning and beach conservation. These authorities should be federally funded, with a mandate to raise capital from quasi-private sources, domestic and international, besides the normal fund channels such as World Bank, ADB, etc. The control of the complete PLAN and its smaller projects should be in the hands of the Baluchistan Government, which should have full authority to collect various receipts and apportion budget and personnel, with a central view to develop the vast underdeveloped areas of Northern Baluchistan. With the coastal road, rail and water becoming realities, palm and coconut plantations can be developed along the whole route, which by itself will foster further farm and agriculture expansion. A whole series of integrated development can and will take place.
A country’s leaders need to dream and make their dreams come true. Our economic prosperity depends upon their ability to exploit and innovate in areas where lesser mortals fear to tread. Leadership is not an end in itself, it is a beginning, a mandate of trust inspired by the aspirations of poor, honest living peoples. Dreams can be translated into reality only if the leadership has the imagination and the courage. Poor countries can seldom afford poor leaders, among other things it is not economically viable. The promise of Baluchistan is an immense potential waiting for exploitation motivated not out of narrow selfishness but the supreme national interest. As Thomas Jefferson has said, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
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