Aid is not the answer: UK trade minister

Says global shift in centre of gravity from West to the East.


Express January 12, 2012

KARACHI: Aid is not going to be a long-term driver of growth anymore, said UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Green while addressing a group of businessmen and academics at the British Deputy High Commission on Thursday.

Speaking on the topic of “Strengthening ties between Pakistan and the United Kingdom by enabling bilateral cooperation,” Green said a global shift in the centre of gravity was taking place from the West to the East.

“Gone are the days when Americans, Europeans and Japanese would sit together, take a decision, and tell the rest of the world about it,” he said, adding that the world was going back to the economic patterns of the past when countries with large populations, like China and India, dominated the global economy.

He said China was the biggest economy of the world in 1820 while the share of the United States in the world economy was merely 1%.

The ceremony was organised by the Karachi School for Business and Leadership (KSBL), which is an upcoming graduate management school being established in Karachi in collaboration with Judge Business School of the University of Cambridge.

Speaking on the occasion, KSBL Chairman Hussain Dawood said the government could not be relied upon to build top-class educational institutes because of its feudalistic nature and lack of resources. “We need two kinds of educational institutions: formal and vocational. The government can’t do it. Civil society has to step forward,” he said.

Dawood said trade links between any two countries were always weak. “Long-term investment, on the other hand, builds a permanent relationship between countries,” he said while talking to the media after the formal conclusion of the ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2012.

COMMENTS (1)

Noor | 12 years ago | Reply

People still taking 'Kashkols' to other countries & not seeing the wasteful spendings & capital thefts in Pakistan, should be ashamed of themselves.

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ