Reform! What, why and for who?
Pakistan was made with a commitment to democracy and development but soon after the founding generation succumbed to greed and politically expediency...
Political will or bad policy and reform design?
Reform remains an elusive and little understood concept in Pakistan. The word is seldom used on TV. It is used even less...
Our manufacturing opportunity
For the last 5 months, I have undertaken the arduous task of renovating my home. Much to the discomfort of family members,...
The real accountability
Accountability is a damaged word in Pakistan. Recent rains in Karachi brought out various aspects of public service delivery in this large...
Recipe for sustained growth of jobs in Pakistan to meet youth bulge
They ask me to give ideas for increasing employment in Pakistan. The answer they are expecting is build more industry, more industrial...
How do consultants, donors and Pakistani ministries solve problems?
The flood of 2010 showed me (I was Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commision then) how dysfunctional policy was in Pakistan and...
The meaning of culture
“I came to see during my time at IBM that culture is not just one aspect of the game, it is the...
The opportunity of dead capital
Economics has become a science of the loudmouth with numbers. Economists come on TV to show off that they have numbers and...
Why can’t we compete in global markets?
Why are Pakistani businesses unable to compete in the global markets? What is it that inhibits them from breaking through overseas? As...
Is the modern professional too busy to exercise?
A friend of mine, who is several years younger, went for a regular medical check-up recently. He was told that he had...
Where are the opportunities for the poor?
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced the Ehsas program for poverty alleviation — an admirable step. But more than government aid the...
“No, I don’t see myself in your seat in 5 years time”
Growing up in the 70s, whenever we were asked what we would like to do as an adult, the very obvious response...
The strange tale of a Sindhi folk song and CPEC
“Ho Jamalo, Wa Wah Jamalo” are words that have been ringing in my ears for over three decades. But it was only...
Budget – Not all is doom and gloom
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI led government has announced a tough budget to arrest the alarming build up in public debt over...
Disrupt or Be Disrupted
The human mind is trained to visualise linear developments and finds it difficult to estimate exponential possibilities which emanate from technology. Such...