Progressive and stable Pakistan can ensure prosperity to each and every citizen: CEO Manzil Pakistan
“The world is not black and white; taking a leftist or rightist view of socio-economic realities is not prudent in this day and age,” Chief Executive Officer of Manzil Pakistan, Naheed Memon, kicked off a recent sit-down with BR Research by delineating the approach this emergent think tank will take to address some of the most pressing challenges facing Pakistan’s economy and society.
“Whether we take the issue of privatisation or monetary policy; whether we talk about the government’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund or the state of education in Sindh; all issues must be considered individually and their respective solutions must be explored as a business case,” she said. Citing the example of the intended privatisation of PIA, she explicated that “the only way to deal with it is to separate the political and strategic arguments, then look at the privatisation case in terms of whether it would sell, who would be the buyers, what would be the way to deliver most value and quality services to customers, and what would be the overall socio-economic outcome.”
“The point is, Manzil Pakistan does not believe in advocating or opposing issues such as privatisation based on a preset economic or ideological disposition. Unlike most other research institutes, we are not dependent on foreign funding, so our agenda is not dictated by a donor,” she said. Manzil Pakistan is not in the business of taking on commissioned work and its agenda is set by a board of directors.
Explaining the vision behind Manzil Pakistan, she said “this is a non-profit think tank dedicated to developing and advocating public policy that contributes to the growth and development of Pakistan. We believe that a modern, progressive and stable Pakistan can ensure prosperity to each and every citizen. We promote enterprise, responsible governments, and institutions to deliver income and public goods to the people of Pakistan.”
Naturally, the discussion shifted to the members of the board and the internal resources deployed at the emergent think tank. Naheed Memon informed that the board of directors is led by former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Salim Reza. “Other board members include Ameena Saiyid, Lieutenant General (Retired) Syed Muhammad, Rear Admiral Hasan M. Ansari, Aasim Siddiqui, Ali Jehangir Siddiqui and Najmuddin A. Sheikh. We intend to raise the number of board members to ten in due time, including academia,” she informed, adding that the diverse backgrounds and expertise of the directors will help ensure that Manzil Pakistan prioritises issues based on national interest. The CEO has worked as a banker for Merrill Lynch in London and has taught at the IBA. She has an MBA from Imperial College and an MSc in Economics from Birkbeck College.
The chief executive highlighted that effort has been made to ensure that only non-partisan members are inducted into the board. “We may bring on people with known political leanings in advisory roles and as fellows in the future but the board will remain independent to ensure that we provide a platform for debate on public policy which is unfettered by personal political leanings.” To this end, an advisory council and a fellowship programme are being established. The think tank employs a growing number of research analysts and has supplemented this team with the help of mentors who are not employed by Manzil Pakistan but liaise closely with its team in their respective areas of expertise.
While most research institutes and think tanks in the country are currently based in Islamabad, Manzil Pakistan has set up its base in Karachi. While the think tank is focused on federal and provincial policies, Naheed pointed out that being based in Karachi will help Manzil Pakistan work closely with provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan. She contended that in the post-devolution scenario, there is much greater scope for public policy formulation at the provincial level.
“In the short to medium term, we have identified the following areas to focus on: education, governance, law and justice, economy, energy and natural resources. We believe that these are among the most critical and pressing issues of national interest and have already begun working on them,” she informed. Elaborating on the think tank’s approach she explained that its strategy is multi-pronged. On the one hand, it shall generate relevant content to guide debate on public policy among all stakeholders. On the other, it aims to gain the buy in of legislators and other government officials in order to affect public policy decisions at the federal and provincial levels.
