Prime Minister's 2010 Programme: Bridge to the 21st Century (Keynote Address)

It is indeed a unique opportunity for me to present thisKeynote Address to this largest gathering of the development economistsin Pakistan-a gathering keen to share experiences, and learn lessons,and bringing, I hope, new ideas to development, which remains achallenge. This meeting is taking place at a time when we are at thethreshold of the Twenty-first Century. At this important occasion, wemust not forget the vision of development given to us by the Father ofour Nation. On the eve of Independence, the Quaid-i-Azam held out aglorious vision for Pakistan's future, a vision of a prosperous andtolerant people, a responsible government free from corruption and,nepotism, and an enlightened society based on the Islamic valuesofjustice and equity. That was the spirit of 1947. Sad to admit thatfifty-one years later, Pakistan is nowhere close to that vision. Thecountry's respectable economic growth and the phenomenal expansion ofinfrastructure have justifiably been lauded, but they have not helped tocreate a society that the founders had imagined. The society is stillmired in ignorance, disease, poverty, intolerance, corruption,injustice, and backwardness, all attributes ofnon-development.