 We lost our way. One was ill-conceived nationalization which stunted this industrial growth. We could have done what China did. They created wealth and they used the wealth to lift the bottom tier of the population. But just because the rich got richer, it didn't mean that we should have stopped this industrialization by nationalization. We should have just had a more equitable growth. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister Khan, it's a great pleasure to welcome you to the annual meeting of our 50th anniversary for the very first time in your capacity as your country's Prime Minister, even if it's not your first time with us in Davos as a political leader. I had the pleasure and privilege of visiting Islamabad last summer and meeting you when you were less than one year into your mandate as Prime Minister. Pakistan had just agreed on bailouts with the IMF and the country's economy was at a turning point. Despite spiraling challenges on the economic and geopolitical front, you maintained the vision you had outlined in your successful election campaign and you, Pakistan, with an economy, institutions and leadership that work for all of the country. Today, six months later, I believe you have a powerful story to tell the world, one in which a country in crisis has been able to pursue one of the most ambitious programs of social, economic and institutional transformation. I am witness. Instead of using the economic crisis to justify cutbacks, I used it to change the way the state collects taxes, the way it shelters its poor and invests in its youth and the environment, and to set new standards of integrity in public lives. Pakistan's ability to emerge from hardships stronger than before is the testament to the remarkable resilience of its peoples. Based on this, it is my great honor, Mr. Prime Minister, to welcome you here to the lectern. Thank you. Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to thank the World Economic Forum for providing me this opportunity to speak to world leaders, business leaders, media people, to give the Pakistan perspective to the world. So I want to thank you specifically for that. Let me just start by saying that I am almost as old as Pakistan. Pakistan was only five years older than me. So I grew up with the country, and the country I grew up was supposed to be a welfare state. The founding fathers of our country wanted Pakistan to be what was called an Islamic welfare state. And as I grew up, I had no idea what a welfare state was. So it was when as a teenager I went to England, that's when I first discovered what a welfare state is, its humanity, its caring about the underprivileged. And so from then onwards, I always thought that if I ever, ever got the opportunity, I would always want my country to be a welfare state. So this is my vision. Everything, all the policies which we make in Pakistan are towards that end. To make it into a humane country where the government takes responsibility of the weakest section of its society. So this is the vision statement. But I'll start with environment because the theme of this time the World Economic Forum is about sustainability. Let me just say first of all that the other thing about Pakistan, it was this desire to see it as a humane and just society. But the other thing was as a child I fell in love with the wilderness of Pakistan, the mountains of Pakistan. All our summer holidays were spent in the Himalayas. And so from that time onwards, what I loved about Pakistan was its wilderness, its mountains. And so as with age I saw these mountains, these wilderness disappearing. And especially the way we destroyed our forest cover, I always resolved the second thing that if I ever got the opportunity, I would make sure that we preserve this God-given beauty of our country. And we started a reforestation campaign. So in 2013 my party won an election in one of the provinces which was the former northwestern province called Pakhtunkhwa. And that's when we started one of the most ambitious campaigns to plant one billion trees in four years. And against all odds we did it. It was no one expected it to happen, but we involved the local communities. We first made them understand how important trees were for the future. We made the people understand that Pakistan was very vulnerable to climate change. And we appealed to the people. We involved women in the mountainous areas to grow nurseries. And it became one of the most successful campaigns in our country's history of forestation. So we planted one billion trees. So when I became the Prime Minister, I resolved that we would plant 10 billion trees in Pakistan in the next four years. And this is now our objective. We are the experience we learn from the KP province. We are now using that experience to grow these nurseries, involve local communities, especially involved women, because they were very good in planting, developing and planting nurseries. So why is it important for us to grow trees? For two reasons. One, as I mentioned, that Pakistan is vulnerable to global warming. Secondly, in our cities pollution has become a silent killer. So unfortunately there was no plan before and our cities got very polluted. Specifically Lahore, which had the pollution levels like Delhi in India rose high because for some reason our planners removed 70% of the tree cover of Lahore in the last 10 years. Apart from the environmental aspect now. The other thing, the third thing I realized, that you cannot make your economy grow unless and until there is peace and stability. Pakistan in the 80s became part of what was the Afghan jihad. Pakistan became allied with the US to stop the fight for the freedom in Afghanistan from the Soviets. We had militant groups in Pakistan trained to do guerrilla activities in Afghanistan. Once that ended, once the Soviets left, we were left with the militant groups and Pakistan suffered the consequences. First time ever we had militant groups in Pakistan. We had sectarian groups. We had this called the Kleshnikov culture. We had drugs coming into the country and that was a watershed in Pakistan. Things started going wrong when and as I repeat for economy, you need stability. You need peace and order. So if you have armed militias in your country, that became one of the impediments on economic growth. Come 9-11, we again joined the US in its war on terror. This time the same militant groups that were created, Pakistan was required to disarm them. So again we went through this process. 70,000 Pakistanis died in it. And of course what was hit was economic growth. And then the image of Pakistan, a dangerous place in the world. So when I assume power, I decided, my government decided that from now onwards, Pakistan will only partner another country in peace. We would not become part of any other conflict. We would not join any country in its conflict. And since then we have played our part. We have tried to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. I also tried to, between the United States and Iran, we tried to play our part in easing tensions. In Afghanistan, in the peace process now, Pakistan is partnering the United States to get the Taliban to talk to the Afghanistan government. It is the nearest we are to some sort of a peaceful solution in Afghanistan. The third issue, economics. When we came into, when my government came into power, as you mentioned, we inherited the worst economic crisis in our history. The biggest current account deficit, the biggest fiscal deficit. They're almost reserves which would have lasted a month. Since then I must pay tribute to my economic team. And of course, we took very tough decisions. I have been in public eye for 40 years, but the sort of, the sort of public attitude I have to face in the last one year, I've never faced in my life because of all these tough economic decisions we've taken. People are hurting. Naturally, when you do stabilization, you squeeze the economy, people hurt. But we have gone through this very tough period. And mercifully, we finally, our economy stabilized, the rupee that was falling. It's now, in fact, in the last few months, it's gained a bit. Our stock market has gone up. Investment in Pakistan year to year has gone up by 200%. So things are looking, we are in the right direction, although I have to say we still have a lot of hard work to do. This year now, we are looking towards economic growth. The idea is now so that we provide employment, start bringing investment in Pakistan, create the conditions. And I'm happy to say that in one year, according to the World Bank, that index of ease of doing business, Pakistan went up 28 points in the ease of doing business. We were in the top 10 countries which made the biggest improvement. What are the advantages of Pakistan? Number one is our population. We are 210 million people. 60% of Pakistanis are below the age of 30. This is the real strength of Pakistan. Unfortunately, we have neglected this young population because we did not concentrate on skill development, equipping them to employ themselves, become entrepreneurs, provide young people to the industry. But now we have started a program of skill development. We have partnered World Economic Forum in this, this program of skill gap. And we have laid a huge amount of money for startups, young people encouraging them to start their own businesses. This is the first time we've done apprenticeship. We are encouraging industries now to employ young people. So this is really a big source. This is a big resource which will, we hope, one day lift Pakistan. The other advantages Pakistan have, number one, is our mineral wealth. Sadly, untapped. Pakistan is sitting on one of the most precious gold and copper reserves. Unfortunately, we've had a few issues so these reserves have remained untapped. But they are, we have enough reserves that we can pay off all our foreign debt. We also have one of the largest coal reserves. We have rare earth minerals. We have unexplored gas reserves. So the whole government attention now is to develop these resources. We also have very fertile agriculture land. Unfortunately, the practices which we have done, we have not really explored this potential. Our productivity is one of the lowest. So for that, we have got help from China. China has been in the CPAC, what is this? Pakistan Economic Corridor. We have in that got China to help us in developing the productivity of agriculture sector. And this is, I think, one area where Pakistan can make strides very quickly. Because we do have fertile land. Unfortunately, as I said, our productivity is very low. And finally, my vision of Pakistan stands from its strategic location. Pakistan is strategically placed probably one of the most fortunate positions in the world. On the one side is China, one of the fastest growing markets. And of course, closely allied to Pakistan. Then we have energy reserves in Central Asia. And the moment there's peace in Afghanistan, we then have access to all the markets in Central Asia. Then we have Iran. And hopefully, if things settle down, Iran also, the more we trade with Iran, both countries will benefit. The biggest neighbor, second biggest neighbor is India. Unfortunately, and sadly, the situation between India and Pakistan is not what it should have been. There are various reasons, and I won't go into it right now. This is not the right forum. But the moment Pakistan and Indian relationship becomes normal, trade starts between the two countries, then one can imagine the location, the strategic location of Pakistan with China one side, India on one side, and then countries with excess energy on the western side. I am someone who believes that in Pakistan, the moment we get our governance right, that is the real issue. Sadly, our governance, what in the past 30 years, the way our governance deteriorated, that was one of the biggest reasons that we have not been able to fulfill our potential as a country. The country has tremendous resources, young population, strategic located. From now on, my government's biggest challenge now is how we can improve our state institutions so we can improve our governance so we can tap our potential. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you for sharing results and vision for your country. Also, very impressive, without any manuscripts, so eloquent laying out your visions. Last year, foreign direct investments to Pakistan increased with 70%. I guess this is also related to the fact that you alluded to in your speech that the security situation is much better. I think also the energy supply is much more predictable. So what is your interpretation of this increase in FDIs? Do you want more FDIs? And are you pretty sure that you're going to be able to keep the security situation at this level and also further develop and improve when it comes to predictability on the energy side? Well, you know, in 2019 was the safest year in Pakistan since 9-11. And after Pakistan participated in the U.S. war on terror, the security situation deteriorated. And for a time, you know, there were bomb blasts going on and there was no question of foreign investment coming in. There were foreign advisories from various countries. So we had a real dip in foreign as understandable if you have a security situation that bad. So 2019 was the most, the safest year after 9-11. And that was reflected in our tourism. And between 2018 and 2019, our tourism doubled in one year. And really this is the great potential of Pakistan in tourism, which is untapped completely. Pakistan has historical tourism. It has that 5,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization, the Mohenjo-Daro civilization, which is one of the oldest. Then it has religious tourism. It has some of the most sacred sites for Hinduism, Sikhism, Sufism, and then Buddhism. The center of Buddhist civilization was the Gandhara, which is north of Pakistan. So we have religious tourism. And then the mountain tourism in Pakistan, almost half the peaks over 24,000 feet are in Pakistan. So it is untouched as yet, and our concentration for providing jobs to people and improving the growth rate is now on tourism. In fact, without us doing anything, tourism has doubled, and people are finding it difficult to have hotels or places to stay. So we are now inviting investment in tourist resorts. So maybe I'm at least one of the few Norwegians that have visited up in the Swat Valley. It's beautiful, and you also have beautiful other places. I think Swat Valley used to be the honeymoon place even in Pakistan. You see tourism also in these areas where the Pakistani Taliban is used to run, and you're not concerned that Pakistani Taliban can come back and you're pretty sure that this is safe footing. You see, in Pakistan now, virtually there's no terrorism in Pakistan, and I have to pay tribute to our security forces. They did such a brilliant job, and it was for a while. We went through a really difficult period, but thanks to them, there is hardly any terrorism. I mean, you have the odd problem, but that you have anywhere in the world. Problem now is we need peace in Afghanistan and stability. Whatever terrorism now comes into Pakistan every now and then is from Afghanistan. And that's why this peace process in Afghanistan is very important. The quicker Afghanistan settles this peace and stability, it's not just only good for Pakistan from the terrorism point of view, but also the connectivity to Central Asia and which will benefit both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Are you, Mr. Prime Minister, optimistic that there can be a deal between Taliban and the government in Kabul? Americans are very much involved in this. You're also contributing. Is it possible this year? And do you think Taliban will also engage in a deal that will respect the rights of girls' education, women, and those areas where there have been progress in Afghanistan? Well, the first thing is that there has to be peace. And that can only happen if Taliban and the Afghan government, they sit together and there's a political settlement. That has to be the first step. Just my view, I do not think that, you know, the saying that you'd only cross the river once. What was in 2001 is not going to be now the case if and when Taliban and the Afghan government come together, because so much has happened since then. So I think it would be a completely different scenario. But the most important thing right now, and it's not going to be easy, but it is the only option that the Taliban and the Afghan government sit together. Whenever that happens, it would have turbulence, but it is the only way forward. There is not and there never was a military solution in Afghanistan. Mr. Prime Minister, as you also alluded to and mentioned, you have also initiated initiatives to have Saudis and Iranians de-escalating and trying to establish dialogues. You are able, as a nation, to have pretty good relations, both Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and other Gulf states. If you look at the escalation that we have seen lately, some people even talk about the Middle East being at an inflection point. And there is no way back. And there are those that are more optimistic that there will be at the escalation. You will continue to contribute in that process. And who do you see that unfolding in the air to come after Americans killed General Soleimani and etc. Is U.S. deterrence back in the region? Are you short-term, medium-term optimistic on de-escalation, or is this something that really keeps you up at night? Let me just, first of all, make a statement. I do not understand why countries go to resolve the differences through military conflicts. Because whenever, and this is just in our lifetime we've seen this, the moment you start a military conflict, you don't know where it is going to go. You can start a conflict, you don't know when it will finish. And then it has unintended consequences. So we have seen in front of eyes Pakistan joining the U.S. war on terror. And I was the one who was objecting to it. I was openly against it, and I thought Pakistan should have stayed neutral. It should not have become partisan. Because Pakistan had nothing to do with 9-11. There were no Pakistanis involved. Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. And I remember then our President Musharraf telling us, it's only a matter of few weeks. So 70,000 people dead later, 10 years later, over 100 billion dollars lost to the economy later. You know, finally we realized we had made a mistake. And the U.S. in Afghanistan, I mean, 18, 19 years of this war and trillion dollars down the drain. So I do not think this is a way to resolve issues. And the worst thing that could happen is if Iran, if there's a conflict between Iran and the U.S. and its allies, it'll be a disaster. It'll be a disaster for us. Pakistan will be a disaster. It'll be a disaster for the developing world. Because the oil prices will shoot up, already we are trying to barely manage our budgets and our current account situation. Suddenly everything will be offset. It'll cause poverty in the world. And God knows how long it will go on. So, you know, we in Pakistan pray that this does not happen. We have tried our best. We've already talked to Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States. I spoke to President Trump yesterday, and I told him that this would be a disaster for us if this war starts. Did he agree? He didn't say anything. You can share with us. It will stay in this room. No, I'm serious. He didn't say anything. But I think he understood. Because this would be, in my opinion, it'll be insanity. Because just Afghanistan is still not resolved. And, you know, Iran would even be a bigger problem. Mr. Prime Minister, you also underline coming back to the more domestic opportunities and challenges in your country. This accelerator that we have agreed on, on skills and upskilling and riskilling between the World Economic Forum and Pakistan. I think there is a huge potential. The youth bulge, the youth of Pakistan is a huge opportunity. How important do you think education is in this context? And who do you look at the national curriculum and the madrasas and the importance of teaching world-class math and sciences? You know the tragedy of my country because, as I said, I grew up with my country. And in the 60s Pakistan was the most exciting thing happening in Asia. It was the fastest growing country. We were moving fastest was industrialization, our universities. I think your GDP was even higher than India's per capita was. Certainly our industrial production was more than the four Asian Tigers put together Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. So it was the fastest growing country. And we lost our way. One was ill-conceived nationalization which stunted this industrial growth. We could have done what China did. They created wealth and they used the wealth to lift the bottom tier of the population. But just because the rich got richer, it didn't mean that we should have stopped this industrialization by nationalization. We should have just had a more equitable growth. But that was where we went wrong. And secondly, we just did not pay enough attention to our education system. So we developed this three-tier education system, English medium for an elite. Then there was Urdu medium which was for the masses. And then there was Dini Mirasas, three parallel systems going. So what my government is now trying to do is to synthesize the system, get the core issue, the core syllabus should be for the same for everyone. And give everyone equal opportunities. The education system actually created the differences, economic differences between people because people could not go on to the higher class because they were not equipped by the education system. So this is what we are trying to do, change the flaws of education system by synthesizing it. Thank you very much Prime Minister. I see that time is out. I would like to continue this conversation. I think we're all very impressed with the reform agenda. We're seeing economic growth is being back. We see the foreign direct investments are there. So thank you for sharing this with the community. Well, economic growth is still coming hopefully this year. The economy has stabilized. The growth is the second thing. As I said, I have never been insulted so much. Not insulted is not the word, but lacerated by the media. The way the media has attacked me because of the stabilization program. But this now 220 is the year we want to lift a growth rate and provide jobs to young people. And I think you can also rely on the Davos community when it comes to supporting your agenda for reforms in your country. So you get back growth and a more inclusive growth. Thank you so much. Thank you.