Pakistan's economic growth is increasing the demand for energy continuously and that is why Pakistani decision makers are now increasing getting worried about the bill of oil import. On this Friday a one day conference about Pakistan's energy needs took place in Washington and in this conference the experts viewed that Pakistan would get more dependent on imported oil in the coming days. You can read a report in Daily Times about the conference and I am quoting here from that report:
Shahid Javed Burki, who was finance minister of Pakistan in 1996-97 and is a retired vice president of the World Bank, told the conference that Pakistan’s present annual growth rate is “not sustainable” because the economy simply does not have the resources to ensure the desired sustainability. He pointed out that investments that would ensure the sustainability of high growth rates were not forthcoming. He was also critical of the “passive approach” adopted by the country’s economic planners vis-à-vis the energy sector. He proposed that Pakistan should treat energy as the “prime sector”. It must also concentrate on the development and strengthening of its agriculture. The country’s coal deposits must be developed “aggressively” but what was most important was to “treat energy as the engine of economic growth and development in the coming years.”
So, it seems that energy worry can even undo the present economic success in near future. There is no quick solution to this problem. Even India is facing this problem at to some extent and growing energy needs is one of the major threats for the Indian economy too. I feel South Asian leaders should join hands and treat the energy issue more seriously.
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