Truth About CPEC & Pakistan’s Economic Failure I Foreign Consultants Can’t Fix it

Описание: SIA Conversations — Pakistan’s most thought-provoking platform for debates on policy, economy, governance, and reform. Led by Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque, Director SIA, these discussions cut through noise and challenge conventional thinking.
From CPEC and economic dependency to academia and reform, our episodes question Pakistan’s development mindset, explore why institutions fail, and highlight what true reform really means.
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CPEC: Pakistan’s Biggest Misunderstanding? | Nadeem Ul Haque on Reform & Dependency
Why CPEC Failed Pakistan — Not China
Foreign Aid or Failed Mindset? Pakistan’s Real Problem
CPEC Myths & Pakistan’s Missed Reforms
Why Pakistan Never Learns | Mindset Over Money
Reform or Collapse: Can Pakistan Fix Itself?
China Won’t Save Pakistan | Reform Is the Only Way
The Truth About CPEC and Pakistan’s Economic Failure
Foreign Consultants Can’t Fix Pakistan
Pakistan’s Dependency Trap — Why We Keep Failing Our Reforms

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00:00 – Intro: Why Pakistan Keeps Failing Reforms
Dr. Nadeem sets the stage, explaining why Pakistan’s economic journey has been trapped in dependency and poor governance for decades.

02:15 – CPEC: The Missed Opportunity
Nadeem explains how Pakistan misunderstood CPEC, blaming China for failures rooted in our own governance and institutional weaknesses.

05:42 – External Aid vs Internal Reform
Tracing history from the 1950s to today — how Pakistan kept relying on aid and loans instead of building real reforms and homegrown solutions.

09:25 – The Real Cost of Dependency
How Pakistan’s overreliance on external actors — from the IMF to China — created a mindset of excuses rather than innovation.

12:40 – Why CPEC Didn’t Deliver Growth
Nadeem breaks down numbers: why half a percent of GDP in annual investment under CPEC was never a “game-changer.”

15:05 – China Isn’t the Problem — We Are
He argues that Pakistan’s intellectual laziness and lack of planning are the true reasons CPEC’s promise remains unfulfilled.

18:20 – Reforming Pakistan’s Economic System
The conversation shifts to Pakistan’s internal system: distorted markets, poor land use, and government overreach that cripple productivity.

21:50 – Academia and Governance: Broken Foundations
Nadeem criticizes universities for low research output and political hiring, calling for merit-based systems and decentralization.

25:35 – The Planning Commission Reality Check
Inside the Planning Commission: Nadeem exposes how weak cost-benefit analysis, inefficiency, and bureaucratic complacency derail progress.

29:10 – Mindset Over Money: The Real Crisis
Drawing from his IMF and World Bank experiences, Nadeem argues that Pakistan’s core issue isn’t funding — it’s the mindset blocking reform.

33:00 – Why Foreign Consultants Can’t Save Us
He explains how Pakistan spends millions on external advisors instead of trusting local experts with real policy innovation.

36:25 – The Reform Generation That Failed
A personal reflection — Nadeem admits his generation couldn’t reform the system and questions whether the youth will do any better.

39:55 – The Youth and Pakistan’s Future
A call to action: Nadeem urges young Pakistanis to challenge narratives, think independently, and rebuild institutions through ideas, not aid.

43:20 – Conclusion: Fixing Pakistan Starts Within
Nadeem wraps up with his central message — Pakistan’s reform, merit, and innovation must come from within, not from loans or CPEC.