Notwithstanding the ceasefire , change is occurring in geopolitical arena every hour. US Israeli war against Iran has entered fifth week , turned regional, already exceeding 33 days. There is escalation , UAE and one other country are joining against Iran . President Trump’s policy speech has further complicated the situation further and there is a fear that gulf states may be operationally involved. The American experts opined , the daily cost United States is undergoing around US $2 billion and is likely to increase besides there are colossal asset damages running into hundreds and billions of US dollars. US opposition question , is it economical war ? The conflict is going to be unsustainable in the longer run , it is argued inside and outside of United States. Number of senior military officers in United States has been removed There is a difference of opinion in the parliaments of Europe and also the Congress and the Senate in US , they are split. People are marching against the war not only World over also within USA. The damage to the Gulf states is touching enormously high . One estimate $ 146 billion plus besides infrastructure cost. Israeli leadership , brave face , is in a shock as all their hypothesis are gone wrong. Iran did not budge, Iran did not bend , there is no regime change . Iran’s military and political leadership eliminated and it still sustained . Damage to Iranian in over 200 cities is colossal . In Isreal major shock came the strike at the Israel’s nuclear plant , a maximum-security complex for Israel nuclear facilities as well as housing underground complete government asset’s structure. Suffered major damages , it proved two things, first air defence Israel claimed is pregnable, second damaged the credibility of the military prowess and myth. Further it has weakened its strategic edge . Within the United States itself anti Trump rising voices question the wisdom of President Trump’s adventure. Federal reserve is in quandary . In ME the war has badly affected the Gulf states , especially Dubai , Abu Dhabi and Bahrain so are Qatar . Reports are 30 to 40% workers have left the GCC and rest are advised to work from home. The banks are not allowing the transfer of funds abroad It created the state of uncertainty. major debt is in the Real Estate markets of all these cities up to 40% , as being reported. Where the money is going? question is being asked. The Investor is heading as report suggest to Singapore and Hong Kong . Both places are ideal because of excellent law and order, ease in business and element of Trust . The question is why not Karachi? Karachi has been the hub of business activities in the region before 70s and most of the airlines used to touch Karachi as transit point. No more , ever since 1970 Karachi became political battleground. The Investor started exiting Karachi . More so Dubai , Abu Dhabi offered better terms, better infrastructure, better Investment climate , very less taxation and most of all the element of Trust. Most of the foreign companies of America and Europe opened their offices in these cities as a regional headquarters . The war has altered present situation and created an element of insecurity. I always in my earlier scribes , maintained that gulf cities are bubbles. We have historic examples and such bubbles exploded on a minor incident. Beirut is an example which was destroyed. Karachi can accommodate the Investment. The answer is yes and no. No in the sense that the infrastructure of the Karachi has been destroyed in the last 40 years. There have been no meaningful developments due to corruption, and there are shortages of water and power. City administration is blamed for corruption and this takes away the element of Trust. Still, the Karachi offers one of the best locations for the Investor specially those Pakistanis who opted to siphon their funds to foreign countries in search of havens. The situation in gulf is not going to develop positively at least in the next 5 to 10 years even when the war ends. For Karachi , there are certain fundamental requirements to attract their investment. I will briefly touch being remained part of the various committees , who evaluated for and world Bank research , as well as , being part of the Karachi administration in the past. First , immediate measure we must create the element of Trust. There should be zero tolerance for the corruption . honest and dedicated officers are posted in each and every tier . Second, the most important is the infrastructure development. It should be undertaken in two phases, immediate and medium term on war footings. The existing industrial areas are choked and hardly have any space for me new Investor , or the space is very expensive. Yet to lure investors land transfer be made on nominal payments. Both the super highway and the National highway are most suitable areas for establishing infrastructure for industry . New Industrial zones be established with one window access to the Industries or the Investor. Like Dubai, and Bangladesh, these in industrial areas or Commercial zones should have a tax-free regime for next 10 years under special arrangements for power and Water . As per MIT report millions of gallon water is available in the Indus Basin Delta , solar energy available chain of heavy-duty tube wells connected through pipes can deliver water for industry , housing . new upcoming residential societies.
Present Karachi’s Airport is choked and surrounded by colonies. There is a requirement of a new Air Port , it be planned between Karachi and Hyderabad on superhighway to meet the requirement of international transportation for 21st Century. The projected Air Port can be undertaken under private and public sector inviting the international investors. Foremost requirement is creating the Trust. The governance of the Karachi must be improved on the Metropolitan lines for that purpose. Nexuses between corruption and crime be broken to move forward. Metropolis be financially and administratively be independent. Abu Dhabi and other Gulf airports are not safe for the time being and will also take some time to create Trust even in those Air Ports , therefore , to lure the international transit flights , civil aviation already has lowered the charges to 50% . Further discount should be given on lending basis. The more the lending the more the discount. Ensure also , as airline staff require residential facilities during transit , more hotels be built around the airport to ensure five-star facilities are available and environment is created as for international standards. In five-star hotels certain social concessions have to be accorded to the foreigners to attract them in Karachi and Gwadar . Karachi lacks five/four-star hotels.
On sea, Karachi and Gwadar now has the opportunity to become a transit hub for the containers as the existing facilities in Gulf sea ports are mostly damaged, further element of Trust offers an opportunity for Karachi and Gwadar . However, security is paramount requirement in Gwadar, coupled with the supply of water and power. Port Cities should be declared tax-free for next 20 years to attract the Investment. Work on three new ports , Pashi , Jiwani and Keti Bander be commenced immediately being strategically located . All these ports be connected by fast trains with Karachi , Quetta and main line connecting Lahore Islamabad. Possible through Public /Private route.
Opportunity comes up seldom in a century , a clear vision is required to cease it. The scope is very large and it is time that Pakistan to move forward to grab this opportunity for future generations . Unlike gulf states Pakistan has benefit of geography and militry power
