Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told business leaders in Lahore on Friday that Pakistan’s institutional framework requires a fundamental reset to eliminate performance hurdles, while pointing to Iran’s domestic manufacturing achievements under long-term international sanctions.
Naqvi Demands Institutional Reset
Pakistan’s system is in need of a reset
because certain government departments and federal institutions have turned into obstacles blocking effective performance, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced during a meeting with businessmen in Lahore on Friday. The security minister acknowledged that the administration frequently receives complaints regarding federal bodies, noting that officials try to fix administrative shortcomings wherever possible.
Echoing his earlier critique delivered at the Pakistan Economic Summit in July, Mr Naqvi shared these thoughts during his address to entrepreneurs in Lahore. As far as federal institutions are concerned, we do receive your complaints from time to time,
the minister told the business gathering, according to coverage published by Dunya News. It seems that some departments and institutions have become hurdles in the way of our performance. So whenever possible, we try our best to correct the things.
He stressed that the government was trying to rectify such shortcomings.
The Call for Business Community Support
Naqvi emphasized that any administrative overhaul cannot succeed without backing from the commercial sector. He reiterated that the country’s system is in need of a reset, drawing on themes from his previous public remarks earlier in the year. Having previously advocated for new administrative divisions across the nation, the interior minister appealed to corporate leaders to back the administration’s initiatives on this front.
I will not speak more on this and I don’t want to go into detail, as there are many things and we achieved many of them. But at this time, this country’s system needs to be reset, and we cannot do that until we have your support.
Mohsin Naqvi, Interior Minister
Minister Urges Import Controls
Turning his attention to the regional economy, the interior minister—who recently undertook multiple rapid journeys to Iran as part of diplomatic efforts to address tensions between Tehran and Washington—discussed at length how the neighboring state has advanced economically despite enduring many years of punitive measures. He observed that the members of his delegation came back astounded by the level of industrial growth in a state subjected to long-term commercial penalties, and mentioned that individuals who had never visited Iran previously imagined a ruined nation plagued by widespread devastation.
The people who visited Iran with me returned astonished after seeing the scale of development in a country that has been suffering under sanctions for many years. You name anything – their auto industry is manufacturing everything locally.
Mohsin Naqvi, Interior Minister
The minister argued that Pakistan must pursue export-led growth while simultaneously curbing import expenditures through domestic production. He maintained that if Iran could achieve this despite facing sanctions for 30 to 40 years, Pakistan could do much more and it would be easy. Pointing out that export-led growth is necessary for the country’s economic uplift, he requested the business community to come up with proposals related to both exports and imports to reduce reliance on foreign goods.