‘Pakistan needs tough decisions for prosperity’
Outgoing Australian envoy says people-to-people contacts between two countries will grow
Australia’s High Commissioner Margaret Adamson. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has the capacity to become a prosperous, open and tolerant upper-middle income nation but it must make some major, difficult choices.
This was stated by Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson who announced the end of her tenure as envoy in Pakistan on Monday.
In what was a farewell address before representatives from the media and think tanks at the Pakistan Institute of Development Studies, Adamson reflected on her tenure in the country and recalled her experiences.
“Our people-to-people links continue to grow with more than 60,000 Pakistani-Australians who make a wonderful contribution to our vibrant and diverse culture,” Adamson said pointing to the strong links between Canberra and Islamabad.
“Pakistani-Australians make up the largest of Australia’s Muslim communities. Our cricketing ties have always been a unifying passion for our two countries.”
Adamson, a senior career diplomat with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade serving previously as ambassador to Poland and Cambodia, was at the centre of efforts to retrieve some bodies of the 10 Pakistanis who had perished in the horrific Christchurch mosque attacks.
Noting that Pakistan will soon celebrate its centenary anniversary in 2047, she said that its people and its government will need to make some major – and at times difficult – decisions to achieve its goals of prosperity.
“I am confident that Pakistan has the capacity to reach that milestone as a prosperous, open, tolerant and inclusive upper middle-income country,” she said, adding that the country’s youth bulge can be a demographic dividend that takes centre-stage as the driver of economic transformation in the country.
But, she warned that achieving that requires a diverse set of reforms. These include improvements to the business environment and heavy investment in setting up first-class infrastructure and education.
Talking about Australia’s strategic aid priorities in Pakistan, Adamson shared that Australia is helping Pakistan inefficient water management to improve agricultural productivity and climate change resilience.
“Our aid project in Pakistan focuses on women’s economic empowerment which strengthens economic growth and increases the well-being of families and communities,” she said, adding that Canberra and Islamabad are also working together on human rights challenges as members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Adamson said she was pleased to see more and more Australian and Pakistani companies doing business with each other with education leading Australia’s services trade in Pakistan.
“More than 13,000 Pakistanis are studying in Australia, acquiring skills and qualifications to pursue their dreams and contribute to Pakistan’s development,” the outgoing envoy said, adding that they have now developed an active alumni network comprising private students as well as thousands of scholarship awardees who have, since the 1950s benefitted from Australia’s longstanding support programmes for building up Pakistan’s human capital.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2019.
Pakistan has the capacity to become a prosperous, open and tolerant upper-middle income nation but it must make some major, difficult choices.
This was stated by Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson who announced the end of her tenure as envoy in Pakistan on Monday.
In what was a farewell address before representatives from the media and think tanks at the Pakistan Institute of Development Studies, Adamson reflected on her tenure in the country and recalled her experiences.
“Our people-to-people links continue to grow with more than 60,000 Pakistani-Australians who make a wonderful contribution to our vibrant and diverse culture,” Adamson said pointing to the strong links between Canberra and Islamabad.
“Pakistani-Australians make up the largest of Australia’s Muslim communities. Our cricketing ties have always been a unifying passion for our two countries.”
Adamson, a senior career diplomat with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade serving previously as ambassador to Poland and Cambodia, was at the centre of efforts to retrieve some bodies of the 10 Pakistanis who had perished in the horrific Christchurch mosque attacks.
Noting that Pakistan will soon celebrate its centenary anniversary in 2047, she said that its people and its government will need to make some major – and at times difficult – decisions to achieve its goals of prosperity.
“I am confident that Pakistan has the capacity to reach that milestone as a prosperous, open, tolerant and inclusive upper middle-income country,” she said, adding that the country’s youth bulge can be a demographic dividend that takes centre-stage as the driver of economic transformation in the country.
But, she warned that achieving that requires a diverse set of reforms. These include improvements to the business environment and heavy investment in setting up first-class infrastructure and education.
Talking about Australia’s strategic aid priorities in Pakistan, Adamson shared that Australia is helping Pakistan inefficient water management to improve agricultural productivity and climate change resilience.
“Our aid project in Pakistan focuses on women’s economic empowerment which strengthens economic growth and increases the well-being of families and communities,” she said, adding that Canberra and Islamabad are also working together on human rights challenges as members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Adamson said she was pleased to see more and more Australian and Pakistani companies doing business with each other with education leading Australia’s services trade in Pakistan.
“More than 13,000 Pakistanis are studying in Australia, acquiring skills and qualifications to pursue their dreams and contribute to Pakistan’s development,” the outgoing envoy said, adding that they have now developed an active alumni network comprising private students as well as thousands of scholarship awardees who have, since the 1950s benefitted from Australia’s longstanding support programmes for building up Pakistan’s human capital.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2019.