As per a report in local media, Mr Pervez Musharraf Pakistani president's repeated promise to oversee the construction of an ambitious pipeline project for transporting Iranian gas to Pakistan appears to have at least half fizzled out as Pakistan battles its current political turmoil after the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.
IPI gas pipeline project was supposed to transport gas from reserves in southern Iran to Pakistan and onwards to India. But the effect of Pakistan's political trepidation is now certain to hit its economic prospects.
The report has cited 3 types of setbacks to the economy in the wake of the recent violence
1. The riots caused significant losses to private and government property with some estimates of the cost going up to the equivalent of USD 1.5 billion. Such damages do not help restore confidence as concerns mount over the extent to which Pakistan will be in a position to rebuild its damaged infrastructure. For the developers of new infrastructure such as the gas pipeline project, the security hazards to new developments have indeed risen.
2. The cost of damaged infrastructure has to be measured in terms of its loss to the overall economic productivity. If there is a delay in carrying out repairs to damaged railway tracks and train networks, that is bound to hurt interests of businessmen and other stakeholders in the economy. The profoundly important question raised in the wake of this damage indeed must be the extent to which future risks to projects such as a newly built up gas pipeline, will have wider repercussions for the Pakistani economy.
3. The extent, to which a large infrastructure project such as a new gas pipeline can be successfully undertaken, must raise questions over the ways in which this project can be financed. Lenders may raise troublesome questions when asked to judge the extent to which they will be willing to finance the pipeline. The way to the future for the moment appears ridden with many troubling questions. However, resolving the dilemma facing Pakistan and the country's economic and business interests today must be largely about the political outlook.
Expatriates excluded from GCC common market agreements
Gulf News quoted Dr Majeed Al Alawi labour minister of Bahrain as saying that expatriates who work in the Gulf will not be covered by GCC common market agreements, allowing freedom of movement, residency and employment.
Dr Alawi said that “These agreements are confined to Gulf citizens, investors and investments. The residency and work permits are the sole prerogatives of each of the 6 states and cannot be used by expatriates to live or work in another country.”
Under the agreement, citizens have the same rights in areas such as employment, healthcare, education, social security and residence, as well as in economic activities such as trading in stock markets, setting up companies, and buying and selling properties.
