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Showing posts from December, 2013

Could Pakistan Have Become a Prosperous Democracy Like Asian Tigers By Now?

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Taiwan, Singapore and  South Korea   experienced a dramatic rise under authoritarian regimes from  1960s through 1990s. The dictators who led these states also showed the way to fellow Asian dictators in Indonesia , Malaysia, Thailand and China who also industrialized and prospered using the same formula that rejected the Washington Consensus  of democracy and free markets as the basis for development of all nations. Per Capita GDP (Constant 2000 US$) Source: World Bank East and Southeast Asia: The Asian Tigers have managed their massive growth mainly through export-driven economies that catered to the industrialized West. Each of them has built huge trade surpluses to fund their growth. These countries have invested in  improving education and training to build significant human capital in a couple of decades. The improved productivity of the workforce, coupled with relatively low wages in Asia's developing economies, have resulted in enormous foreign investments. Th

Pakistan Steps Up IT Projects Roll-Out in Public Sector

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IT projects ranging from automated meter reading and computerized land records management to online education and mobile banking are now at various stages of implementation across Pakistan.  In a report released today , the World Bank calls these projects "unprecedented in the public sector in developing countries". The objective of these efforts is to reduce corruption, increase productivity and improve service delivery in both private and public sectors. Here's a brief description of five key areas where information technology penetration is visible: 1. Automated Meter Reading: Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) project has been rolled out across the country with the help of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  It is aimed at reducing power theft which accounts for 20-30% of all power generated in Pakistan. It will provide accurate electronic meter readings with little human intervention, using technology to transmit meter readings data via GSM

Drones Anger and Fascinate Pakistanis

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Drone is now a household word in Pakistan. It outrages many Pakistanis when used by Americans to hunt militants and launch missiles in FATA. At the same time, it inspires a young generation of students to study  artificial intelligence at 60 engineering colleges and universities in Pakistan . It has given rise to robotics competitions at engineering universities like National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and my alma mater NED Engineering University . Continuing reports of new civilian uses of drone technology are adding to the growing interest of Pakistanis in robotics. Pakistani UAV Shahpar at IDS 2012 Show Last week,  two indigenously built drones, named Burraq and Shahpar , were inducted into Pakistan Army and Air Force to deal with both internal and external threats. A press release by the military's Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) announced that Pakistan had inducted its first fleet of “indigenously developed Strategic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV

Pakistan Currency and Foreign Reserves in Sharp Decline

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Pakistani rupee has sharply declined to 109.50 rupees to a US dollar, a loss of nearly 10% of its value in just a few months since Mr. Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as Prime Minister in June, 2013. At the same time, the foreign exchange reserves have plunged to $3.463 billion, a 12-year low  since November 2001 when country had foreign reserves of $3.5 billion. The drop in rupee and foreign exchange reserves is happening in spite of the fact that remittances from overseas Pakistanis are setting new record highs and IMF bailout funds are also being disbursed. Overseas Pakistanis Remittances: Overseas Pakistanis have sent home over $55 billion since 2008-9 . Last fiscal year alone, expatriates remitted about $14 billion. Additional $ 5.3 billion in remittances have flowed in the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year 2013-14, a increase of 6.27 percent over the same period last year. Foreign Direct Investment: Net foreign direct investment (FDI) has surged