Page 11 - CMA Journal (Mar-Apr 2026)

like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization can play a key ICMA: From your experience with Pakistan's governance
role because the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO, challenges, what one economic reform could best help
has an institution in Tashkent which is called RATS, i.e. the the country withstand major geopolitical shocks?
Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. We have representation
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed: The most important
there also. I think that can be a platform which should be put
economic reform, in my view, is tackling corruption in our
to good use in promoting a common regional,
official system, where our own investors are persecuted by
comprehensive counterterrorism strategy, which is currently
our own system like the FBR and other government agencies
missing. In that, we can involve the Central Asian countries,
who just persecute them because they are investors, they
China, and Russia also for the common cause of have money, and they try to extort that money through
counterterrorism. And that is one example of how we can various means and blackmail them. I think that issue of
turn regional challenges into opportunities. corruption and that one reform, and establishing a one
window operation, would also invite investors from outside,
ICMA: Looking ahead, what long-term steps should
whether it's Chinese or Arabs or Americans, or beginning
policymakers take to strengthen Pakistan's resilience
with your own investors because Dawn newspaper has
and global standing?
reported that in the last three years, 20,000 Pakistanis have
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed: Looking ahead, I think it invested 12 billion dollars in real estate and other
is very clear that Pakistan has today emerged as a major investments in the United Arab Emirates, especially in Dubai.
Muslim power in a world which is no longer dominated by a So that money is going out and Pakistani investors are
single superpower. And as the recent summit between leaving and eeing the country because they have no
President Trump and President Xi Jinping in Beijing has con dence in their own system, and the system itself is
shown, now the world is going to be dominated by two based on corruption and extortion. So, I think that is the most
important thing.
major powers, China and the United States on an equal
footing. In fact, China now has an advantage over the US And secondly, I think that given what has happened after the
because China is stronger economically and China is also major geopolitical shocks like the Iran War in the Gulf region,
stronger diplomatically in the aftermath of the Iran war. And many of the Pakistanis and the foreigners, expatriates who
the US and the West are overall in a situation of decline. So, in were living in these countries who found them a haven of
these historical changes, Pakistan should, I think, develop a security, no longer feel that way. And they are eeing that
more region based foreign policy. For example, the South place. People are going to Istanbul, people are going to Hong
Asian region has been largely ignored. Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kong, people are going to Singapore, and I think that we
Bangladesh, Maldives, all these countries look up to Pakistan should open our doors. We should say welcome, come back
for leadership. And they are very much opposed to Indian to Pakistan, no questions asked. There should be a general
hegemony and Indian dominance. And then it is about amnesty for that, and a certain fee should be charged, maybe
regional economic connectivity, especially through the Belt 10 percent or 20 percent as a at fee, and we will not ask
where you got the money from as long as you invest the
and Road Initiative, through CPEC, and through other
money in Pakistan and your own country. I think that is the
mechanisms as well.
way forward because we have to do out of the box thinking
And the third area is that what is needed is also, frankly, in rather than a traditional bureaucratic approach based on red
Pakistan, a healing touch because the polarization in tape, corruption, and restrictive rules and regulations which
Pakistan among the political forces brings about a widening retard Pakistan's progress and are also a dampener on the
chasm between the elite and the street. I think that needs to natural talent of the people of Pakistan, especially in the eld
be worked out well. And nally, a comprehensive of creativity and investment.
counterterrorism strategy is also needed. So, Pakistan's
advantage that we have managed to establish in the last one The Editorial Board thanks Senator Mushahid Hussain
year after the victory over India and Marka-e-Haq, and after Sayed, Former Chairman of the Senate Defence
Committee, Former Federal Minister for Information and
consolidating it through diplomatic gains as a credible
Broadcasting and Chairman Pakistan-China Institute (PCI)
mediator between Washington and Tehran, I think that
for sparing his precious time to give an exclusive interview for
needs to be translated into tangible bene ts for Pakistan and Chartered Management Accountant Journal.
its people.

9 ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Mar-Apr 2026