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Pakistan Page Introducing Pakistan Pakistan displays some of Asia’s most magnificent landscapes as it stretches from the Arabian Sea, its southern border, to some of the world’s most spectacular mountain ranges in the north. Pakistan is also home to sites that date back to word’s earliest settlements rivaling those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Location Located in South Asia, Pakistan shares an eastern border with India and a north-eastern border with China. Iran makes up the country’s south-west border, and Afghanistan runes along its western and northern edge. The Arabian Sea is Pakistan’s southern boundary with 1,064 km of coastline. The country has a total area of 796,095 sq km and is nearly four times the size of the United Kingdom. From Gwadar Bay in it’s south-eastern corner, the country extends more than 1,800 km to the Khunjerab Pass on China’s border.
Pakistan is a land of many splendours. The scenery changes northward from coastal beaches, lagoons and mangrove swamps in the south to sandy deserts, desolate plateaus, fertile plains, dissected upland in the middle and high mountains with beautiful valleys, snow-covered peaks and eternal glaciers in the north. The variety of landscape divides Pakistan into six major regions: The North High Mountainous Region, the Western Low Mountainous Region, the Balochistan Plateau, the Potohar Uplands, the Punjab and the Sindh Plains.
High Mountain Region: Stretching in the North, from east to west, are a series of high mountain ranges which separate Pakistan from China, Russia and Afghanistan. They include the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindukush. The Himalayas spread in the north-east and the Karakoram rises on the north-west of the Himalayas and extends eastward up to Gilgit. The Hindu Kush mountains lie to the north-west of the Karakoram, but extend eastward into Afghanistan. With the assemblage of 35 giant peaks over 24,000 ft. high (7,315m), the region is the climbers' paradise. Many summits are even higher than 26,000 ft.(7,925 m) and the highest K-2(Mt.Godwin Austin) is exceeded only by Mt.Everest. Inhospitable and technically more difficult to climb than even Everest, they have taken the biggest toll of human lives in the annals of mountaineering.
The passes are rarely lower than the summit of Mt. Blanc and several are over 18,000 ft. (5,485 m). The Karakoram Highway, that passes through the mountains, is the highest trade route in the world. Besides, the region abounds in vast glaciers, large lakes and green valleys which have combined at places to produce holiday resorts such as Gilgit, Hunza and Yasin in the west and the valleys of Chitral, Dir, Kaghan and Swat drained by rivers Chitral, Pankkora, Kunhar and Swat respectively in the east. Dotted profusely with scenic spots having numerous streams and rivulets, thick forests of pine and junipers and a vast variety of fauna and flora, the Chitral, Kaghan and Swat valleys have particularly earned the reputation of being the most enchanting tourist resorts of Pakistan.
South of the high mountains, the ranges lose their height gradually and settle down finally in the Margalla hills (2,000-3,000 ft.) in the vicinity of Islamabad, the Capital of Pakistan, and Swat and Chitral hills, north of river Kabul. Although the climate of the region is extremely diverse, according to aspect and elevation, yet as a whole it remains under the grip of severe cold from November to April. May, June and July are pleasant months. The southeren slopes receive heavy rainfall and consequently are covered with forest of deodar, pine, poplar and willow trees. The more northerly ranges and north-facing slopes receive practically no rains and are, therefore, without trees.
There is a considerable trans-humane from the mountains to the plains in winter and from plains to the mountains in summer. The permanent settlers grow corn, maize, barely, wheat and rice on the terraced fields and also raise orchards of apples, apricots, peaches and grapes. Peaks and Glaciers Eric Shipton, a great mountainer who perished in Pakistan's Northern Areas, wrote in his account. To describe this region is to indulge in superlatives, for everywhere you look are the highest, the longest and the largest mountains, glaciers and rivers in the world. Making some allowance for Shipton's tendency towards slight exaggeration, born out of awe and fascination, the fact remains that Pakistan boasts of the largest share of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Its own highest peak, the famed and dreaded K-2, is the second highest in the world, being just some `ropes' short of the Everest in Nepal. With due respect to the Everest, K-2 is regarded as far more firmidable to climb than its relatively facile superior. Three of the mightiest mountain systems- the Hindukush, the Karakorams and the Himalayas- adorn the forehead of Pakistan. The second highest peak of Himalayas, as also of Pakistan, is the Nanga Parbat which literally means the "Naked Mountain".
Pakistan has seven of the 16 tallest peaks in Asia. The statistics are simply baffling: 40 of the world's 50 highest mountains are in Pakistan; in Baltistan over 45 peaks touch or cross the 20,000 foot mark; in Gilgit within a radius of 65 miles, there are over two dizens peaks ranging in height between 18,000 to 26,000 feet.
The awe-inspiring beauty provided inspiration to a Pakistani writer to observe lyrically, "in Pakistan's lofty mountain regions, reaching for the sky doesn't seem too ambitious". Pakistan's Eight Thousanders: There are a total of 14 main peaks soaring above 8000 metres in the world. Out of these, 8 are located in Nepal, 5 in Pakistan and 1 in China. It has become prestigious to make these peaks as targets by mountaineers every year. In fact, successful climb over these peaks is considered an enviable measure of their attainment. By far, the largest number of mountaineering expeditions visiting Pakistan has been coming from Japan.
K-2 (8611m) It is the second highest mountain the world. It was first attempted by Martin Conway's expedition in 1902 which was composed of British, Austrian and Swiss climbers. Ashraf Aman was the first Pakistani climber to climb on top of K-2 with five other climbers of the Jap-Pak expedition in 1977, with Ichire Yoshizawa as its leader and Isao Shinkai as the technical leader.
Nanga Parbat (8125m) It is also known as the killer mountain. It claimed the life of AF Mummery, leader of an expedition and two porters in 1895. Since then Nanga Parbat has cost scores of lives, though quite a few have successfully scaled it. Harmann Buhl was the first to set foot on this formidable peak in 1953. In spite of its bloody past record, Nanga Parbat is still the most sought after target. Its dangerous challenge seems to add spurs to the determination of climbers.
Hidden Peak (8068m) This peak was first attempted in 1892 by Martin Conway's expedition who gave it this name because it was hidden by the neighbouring peaks of Baltoro glacier. The peak was first conquered in 1958 by an American expedition. Nick clinch was the leader. The climbing leaders Peter Schoening and Kanfuran were the two summiters.
Broad Peak (8047m) This peak was also named by Martin Conway and was first attempted by a German expedition headed by Karl Herligk offer in 1954. The peak was climbed in 1957 when the entire team of four climbers with Marcus Schmuck scaled it.
In the far-north of Pakistan are valleys which are closed within the silent, brooding forts of these mountains and are almsot as high as the mountains themselves. Here dwell, from times immemorial, various tribes differing in race and culture. If one tribe has Mongol features, its neighbour is obviously Aryan. Separated by insurmountable obstacles, these tribes very often live a totally land-locked existence blissfully unaware of the world beyond. But, a traveller is simply wonderstruck by one common element - Islam.
Every-where you hear the familiar Assalam-o-Alaikum, the universal Muslim greeting and welcome. and no matter how small or poor the inhibtation, the same muezzin's call to prayer "Allah-u-Akbar rings in the thin mountain air, issuing from the minarets of mosques hidden in the inaccessible fold of these ranges pulsates an infinite variety of life; animals reptiles, birds, insects and plants. There is, of course, the yak which is an enormous but docile beast, at once the beast of burden and food. It is notable in the wildlife of these regions, but, its hunting is strictly restricted and in many areas totally forbidden by law.
Glaciers:
Pakistan has more glaciers than any other land outside the North and South Poles. Pakistan's glacial area covers some 13,680 sq.km which represents an average of 13 per cent of mountain regions of the upper Indus Basin. Pakistan's glaciers can rightly claim to possess the greatest mass and collection of glaciated space on the face of earth. In fact, in the lap of the Karakoram of Pakistan alone there are glaciers whose total length would add up to abvoe 6,160 sq. km. To put it more precisely, as high as 37 per cent of the Karakoram area is under its glaciers against Himalayas' 17 per cent and European Alps' 22 per cent. The Karakorams have one more claim to proclaim; its souther flank (east and west of the enormous Biafo glacier) has a concentration of glaciers which works out to 59 per cent of its area. There is a historical reason for the fact that we, and the world outside, are better acquainted with glaciers in the Nanga Parbat region. It is through this region, hazardous though it is, that man has trudged to and fro since the beginning of his civilized history of movement and migration. The Siachin glacier is 75 kms. The Hispar (53 kms) joins the Biafo at the Hispar La (5154.16 metres (16,910 ft) to form an ice corridor 116.87 kms (72 miles) long. The Batura, too is 58 kms in length. But, the most outstanding of these rivers of ice is the 62 kms Baltoro. This mighty glacier fed by some 30 tributaries constitues a surface of 1291.39 sq. kms. Western Low Mountains Region. These western low mountains spread from the Swat and Chitral hills in a north-south direction (along which alexander the Great led his army in 327 B.C) and cover a large portion of the North-West Frontier Province. North of the river Kabul their altitude ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 ft. in Mohamand and Malakand hills. The aspect of these hills is exceedingly dreary and the eye is everywhere met by the dry rivers between long rows of rocky hills and crags, scantily covered with coarse grass, scrub wood and dwarf palm. South of the river Kabul spreads the Koh-e-Sofed Range with a general height of 10,000 ft. Its highest peak, Skaram, being 15,620 ft. South of Koh-e-Sofed are the Kohat and Waziristan hills (5,000 ft) which are traversed by the Kurram and Tochi rivers, and are bounded on south by Gomal River. The whole area is a tangle of arid hills composed of limestone and sandstone. South of the Gomal River, the Sulaiman Mountains run for a distance of about 483 kilomaters in a north-south direction, Takht-e-Sulaiman (11,295 ft.) being its highest peak. At the southern end lie the low Marri and Bugti hills. The area shows an extraordinary landscape of innumerable scarps, small plateaus and steep craggy out-crops with terraced slopes and patches of alluvial basins which afford little cultivation. Kirthar Range South of the Sulaiman Mountains is the Kirthar Range which forms a boundary between the Sindh plain and the Balochistan plateau. It consists of a series of ascending ridges running generally north to south with broad flat valleys in-between. The highgest peak named Kutte ji Kabar (dog's grace is 6,878 ft. above sea level. Bleak, rugged and barren as these hills are, they afford some pasturage for flocks of sheep and goats. The valleys are green with grass and admit cultivation up to a highest of 4,000 ft. Historical Passes The western mountains have a number of passes, which are of special geographical and historical interest. For centuries, they have been watching numerous kings, generals and preachers passing through them and the events that followed brought about momentous changes in the annals of mankind.
People and Population
The population of the country as on 1st January, 1994, is estimated at about 124.45 million with its male/female ratio of 52.50:47.50 per cent. The current growth rate of 3.0 per cent is the highest among nine most populous countries of the world. The population is expected to reach 150 million by the year 2000. Density per square kilometre is 156 persons. Literacy rate is estimated to be 36.8 per cent. Of the four provinces, with 25.8 per cent of land area of the country, Punjab has 56.5 per cent of the total population; Sindh, with 17.7 per cent of land area, has 22.6 per cent: NWFP, (including FATA) with 12.8 per cent of land area, has 15.7 per cent; Balochistan, with 43.6 per cent of land area, has 5.1 per cent. Thus, Punjab is the most densely (240 persons per sq km) populated province, follwed by Sindh and NWFP. Balochistan is the least populated province, with 19 persons per square kilomatre. The overall population density of the country is 156 persons per square kilometre as estimated in 1994. Sindh is the urbainised province with 43 per cent of the people living in urban areas including Karachi City. The urban population of Punjab is 28 per cent followed by NWFP, 21 per cent, and Balochistan 16 per cent. About 67 per cent of the total urban population of the country lives in 28 cities with population of 100,000 and above, while 57 per cent of the total urban population lives in 12 cities with population lives in 12 cities with population of 200,000 and above. Age Composition According to the Labour Force Survey, 1990-91, 46.93 of the population is under 15 years of age; 49.66 per cent is between the age groups of 15 and 64 years, while 3.41 per cent comprises persons 65 years old and above.
Economic development in Pakistan
These are exciting times for business in Pakistan. Reforms and stability of economic policies have resulted in a vibrant environment. The WTO has come into force with both opportunities and risks in its wake. Businessmen and entrepreneurs have a special role to play at this time. They are the critical building blocks of a prosperous Pakistan, and can help the nation break the shackles of poverty and illiteracy
Significant positive initiatives by the Government of Pakistan (GoP) over the last five years towards structural reforms have begun to bear fruit. Led by solid industrial production and strong agricultural sector performance, 2005 GDP growth is slated to cross 8%, according to GoP sources. In 2005 a broadening fiscal stimulus was complemented by an equally expansive monetary stance by the central bank in the first nine months of 2005.
Riding on the strong economic fundamentals, Pakistan's economy has gathered greater momentum during of last few years. Acceleration in growth accompanied by a sharp pick-up in industrial production, a strong upsurge in investment, and a further strengthening of the external balance of payments have been the hallmarks of this year's performance. The pre-payment of high cost external debt, the strategic re-entry into the international capital markets through the floatation of a Eurobond and the re-basing of Pakistan's national accounts have been the other stellar occurrences of the FY 2003-04. The efforts of the last five years have started yielding positive results and this year has seen the incidence of poverty declining, enrollment in primary, middle and matric levels rising, and various quality of life indicators improving.
Growth does not come without cost. The Pakistan government embarked on an ambitious medium term, high economic growth path in order to generate employment, alleviate poverty and significantly raise per capita income. The past fiscal budgets dovetailed several years’ economic restructuring efforts whereby focus has been on the liberalization, deregulation and documentation of the economy. The government has now released an initial five year plan called the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF), which envisages GDP growth of 7-8% p.a between FY05 to FY10, industrial sector contribution to GDP rising from 25.8% in FY05 to 30.2%, federal deficit decreasing from 3.7% to 3.2% of GDP during this period and exports rising to over US$ 20bn by FY10. Inflation is targeted at an average of near 6% during this period.
Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF)
The Planning Commission of MoF was handed the responsibility of creating the 5-year plan for Pakistan. The commission recently published this report where the MoF, after a rigorous disaggregated research of the underlying potential of individual sectors of the economy, along with a reform plan to further enhance these potentials, has laid out the next 5 year plan for Pakistan’s economy. This report is focused on the macro picture portrayed in MTDF.
The MoF, over the next five-years, envisages the economy to grow at a growth rate of 7.4% per annum and touch 8% in 2010. The plan foresees a rapidly industrializing Pakistani economy, with Large Scale Manufacturers (LSM), the key driver of this industrialization drive, to grow at an average pace of 12.7% for the next five years, despite its growing base, which has reached 12% of GDP. Furthermore, MTDF expects the agriculture sector to grow by 4.3% on average. The agriculture sector is greatly dependent on weather conditions. The MTDF also foresees an average growth of 6.9% in the largest segment of the economy --the services sector. The key driver of this growth is expected to be the wholesale and retail trade, followed by the recently deregulated communication businesses combined with transport. These segments of the services sector are expected to grow by an average rate of 8.6% and 6.4% respectively. Privatization in Pakistan and recent achievements The government of President Musharraf began to provide fresh impetus to the policy for private sector development and privatisation. The Privatisation Commission (PC) was strengthened, a new law was passed, and some major transactions were initiated. The most notable achievement of the first three years of the Musharraf government on the privatisation front was the sale of 51 percent of United Bank for Rs.13 billion. Overall, 25 transactions were completed whose value was Rs.36 billion. This represented a considerable acceleration after the slowdown in the late nineties. The most active phase of privatisation has been the last two years of President Musharraf’s democratic dispensation. During this time, privatisation worth Rs. 75 billion has been undertaken from 21 transactions. In addition to President Musharraf’s overall leadership, the programme has benefited from Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s background in the private sector and his strong support as head of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP). The Privatisation for the People Programme The Privatisation for the People Programme was launched to offer shares in public enterprises to the general public. This programme had several objectives: · to create ownership and enthusiasm for privatisation among the public; · to directly pass on the benefits of the privatisation programme to large segments of the public; · to bring new companies for listing into the stock market thereby broadening the base of the stock market; · to offer good investment opportunities to the middle class investors; · to benefit from the transparent procedures available for privatisation through the stock market and create a larger group of stockholders in Pakistan. · The approach adopted by the Privatization Commission was to ensure wide participation and to achieve this end, several steps were taken. There have been other advantages of this programme. These include: · Addition of several new companies to the stock market; · The market capitalisation of the stock market which was Rs.343.4 billion in November 2001 now stands at Rs. 2,332.8 billion; The number of stockholders in Pakistan was about 70, 000 a year and a half ago. It now stands closer to one million thanks to the Privatisation for the People Programme.
Overall, Pakistan is likely to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It is desired that the economy can remain on a welfare-enhancing trajectory and grow at a sustainable 6% level over the next 5 years, thanks to greater macroeconomic stability and institutional reforms, even during a period of temporary global growth slow down. It is believed that capital markets are likely to continue growing over the medium term. If the government and financial services industry focus their joint energies in streamlining regulations, improving governance and facilitating listed company transparency, there is no reason why the capital market should not perform its primary role of efficient long-term risk capital allocation in the economy.
Outlook for 2005-2007 and medium-term trends
The growth of the industry sector in FY2005 is estimated at 10.0%, given the strong recovery in investment in manufacturing seen in FY2004 and continuing high domestic demand. Continuing modernization of the textile industry. Services sector growth is also forecast to improve in FY2005. The expansion of the telecoms sector will accelerate further, as companies given licenses for various types of telephone services earlier in the year start their operations. Strengthened through reforms and privatization, the financial sector is also expected to expand robustly. Finally, wholesale and retail trade will be bolstered by a stronger performance in commodity-producing sectors and by burgeoning imports.
Despite an adverse effect of the increase in international oil prices, the fiscal deficit target of 3.1% of GDP should be achieved in FY2005.
In the first 6 months of FY2005, the trade deficit grew much more sharply than expected because of an unprecedented surge in imports of 47.7% compared with the same period in the previous year. Thus, despite an above-target rise in exports (14.6%), the trade deficit leaped from $159 million to $2.3 billion.
The Government’s active debt management policy and tax reforms are expected, respectively, to further reduce the debt service burden and to boost revenues. The resulting fiscal space will allow it to increase investment in physical infrastructure and to allocate more resources for operation and maintenance, as well as to raise allocations for basic social services, such as education, health, and safe drinking water. The financial system, greatly strengthened by aggressively implemented reforms over the past several years, is also well positioned to support higher economic growth over the medium term. Such reforms, together with privatization, have resulted in a more resilient and efficient system that is better placed both to absorb macroeconomic shocks and to mobilize and allocate financial resources more efficiently.
A significant improvement in Pakistan’s relations with India in the last year has also enhanced the economic outlook, by reducing security concerns and by improving prospects of intraregional trade in South Asia. Source: Official page of Pakistan. |
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