BEIJING: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that the advent of money laundering was the greatest hindrance to the growth of developing countries.
The prime minister said that money laundering was the world’s worst problem and a major enabler of corruption. He said that trillions of dollars were being siphoned off from developing countries to developed countries, resulting in economic deprivation of poor economies, of their resources and foreign exchange. As a result, the ultimate sufferers were the poor and the economically underprivileged.
Speaking at the Central Party School, the prime minister said “Pakistan needs investment due to its current account deficit, and China, through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has provided us foreign investment. They have given us an opportunity to attract investment”.
He added that his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping , Premier Li Keqiang and assistance offered by the Chinese government, along with multi-national companies has paved the way for Pakistan to get out of its current economic woes.
“What China has offered to Pakistan is a great opportunity”, the prime minister said, adding that CPEC was a great blessing that connected Pakistan with China and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will also enable much needed investment in the country.
“We need investment in Pakistan more than ever because of mismanagement and corruption in the last 15 years, plus we have also suffered major setbacks owing to the war on terrorism,” he said.
The prime minister said Pakistan’s relationships with China were not specifically in one area, that they were multi-dimensional, and that Pakistan intends to learn from China’s urbanisation, environment, and waste management, with a special focus on fighting corruption and poverty alleviation.
Prime Minister Khan said the main concern of his government was to strengthening state institutions, that strong state institutions were a guarantee to a corruption-free Pakistan.
Speaking about poverty alleviation, he said, “You cannot have a society of a few rich people and a sea of poor people. You cannot have a society with too much inequality and expect to progress.”
He added, while speaking of his admiration for China, “No country in human history has taken 700 million people out of poverty”.
The prime minister said his government was interested in utilizing and learning from the experience of China to bring Pakistanis out of poverty.
The prime minister said that in the 1960s, Pakistan was one of the fastest developing countries in Asia and its economic growth was exemplary. Its first five-year-plan was adopted by South Korea and Malaysia. Pakistan had quality universities and the countries looked upon it like a role model.
Unfortunately, he said, “Pakistan lost the way and what stopped Pakistan from its destination was corruption, especially in the ruling class. The country has resources but the money which should have been spent on its development went to the corrupt elite, he added.
Speaking about learning from sports, PM Khan stated, “Pakistan, unfortunately after the mid-1980s, was suffering from corruption, and the menace had grown exponentially. He added that after he was done playing cricket, he resolved to join politics and fight corruption and burn its roots.
“A champion is he who learns from his mistakes, who analyses and corrects them,” he said, adding that seven years ago, people started to fight against corruption and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the biggest party in Pakistan which stands for two things – building of the institutions and bringing people out of poverty.
Speaking about China’s example, he said that 30 years back, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was the same as Pakistan’s GDP today. However, the way China changed itself was exemplary, and that Pakistani scholars must study how China changed itself, and rooted out poverty and corruption.
He said the total number of people under the poverty line in China was 30 million and their objective in the next five years was to take them all out of poverty.
The prime minister said that Pakistanis have love and affection for China and its people. He assured China of Pakistan’s unconditional assistance and willingness to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in times of need.
