Former Pak PM Shaukat Aziz calls for more unregulated economy

Former Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz today favoured a more unregulated economy saying that an open market will help a country improve its connectivity.

Connectivity is the key to success for any country and one of the best ways to improve this is to open up your markets, Aziz said while addressing a session at the third annual meeting of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The comments come amidst rising worries about liberal global trade after US President Donald Trump announced a slew of protective trade tariffs against major exporting nations including China, Europe and India, and counter measures by these nations on American goods.

Calling for a multiple approach to develop the infrastructure sector, Aziz said when it comes to the power sector, a greater government assistance is required.

The former PM of Pakistan also said that mobilisation of resources in the public sector is more time consuming than the private sector.

Private providers of infra should create a culture of best global standards, he added.

Underlining the need for more public sector intervention in the road sector, he said, in the PPP model of road development, private players can use toll system to recover their investment.

However, he was quick to add that the payback time is longer in such projects and this is where the role of multi-development banks come in.