The World Economic Forum (WEF) has shared its ‘Executive Opinion data’ with the partner institute, Mishal Pakistan, and praised Pakistan for taking concrete steps for smooth development process.

According to data of the report of the World Economic Forum, “Pakistan shows global leadership in initiating programs for poverty alleviation, universal Health Delivery services, environmental protection, improving human capital and curbing corruption, indicates the World Economic Forum data.”

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Friday in his tweet had also said that Mishal (World Economic Forum) has endorsed economic progress in Pakistan.

The Report says, “The survey is an invaluable and unique source of high quality perceptions data providing globally comparable proxies for critical aspects of socio-economic development. The Executive Opinion Survey is an invaluable and unique source of high-quality perceptions data providing globally comparable proxies for critical aspects of socioeconomic developments. The data being shared by WEF shows Pakistan’s value scores on more than 148 indicators.”

The report further described that the data indicates that Pakistan has shown tremendous progress and achievements made by the government to have more future-oriented policies and approaches. The government’s short term and long-term vision has shown improvements as it is 4.42 this year from 3.88 last year. The personal dynamism of the top leadership in the country has also been instrumental in changing the perception of Pakistan, it says.

According to the report, “Pakistan has also shown global leadership in putting more emphasis on human dignity and social capital values through its Ehsaas Program. Pakistan has discovered the only solution (of Corona Virus) is a smart lockdown, which allows for economic activity with standard operating procedure. Pakistan is amongst the pioneers of this approach. The world widely acknowledged Pakistan’s anti-Covid efforts through smart lockdown strategy, mainly focusing on balanced between lives and livelihood.”

The Government’s vision to provide universal health services through the health cards for addressing people’s issues related to health and environment-friendly initiatives in order to have a clean and green Pakistan are unprecedented in the history of the region.

Report further stated, “Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption organization, NAB under the present management, has taken various steps in curbing corruption which has started yielding results. NAB during 2021, processed 30405 complaints, authorized 1681 complaint verifications, 1326 inquiries, 496 investigations and recovered Rs. 323 billion directly and indirectly in 2020 which is remarkable achievement as compared to previous years of NAB. Due to NAB’s effective communication strategy, people are now more aware about the ill effects of corruption and corrupt practices.”

The Pakistan Competitiveness Report will be published and launched by Mishal Pakistan in 2022 which will be the flagship Report for Pakistan to showcase its economic progress through leadership, social resilience, and business dynamism. Competitiveness Reports are designed to help policymakers, business leaders and other stakeholders shape their economic strategies in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It will also serve as a call to action to engage in the visionary and bold leadership required to build a new economic agenda for growing sustainable and inclusive economies that provide opportunity for all.

Mishal Pakistan is the Country Partner Institute of the New Economy and Societies Platform, World Economic Forum. Mishal is Pakistan’s leading strategic communication and research company. Mishal is responsible for generating primary data on more than 200 indicators measuring Pakistan’s competitiveness. Mishal’s foremost domain of activity is behaviour change and strategic communication with a spotlight on public policy, perception, and reputation management.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on January 31, 2022.