Tag Archives: pakistan
The Failure of Good Governance: How it led to the Financial Crisis
Posted on 31. Dec, 2008 by Jia En Teo.
The concept of good governance has typically been used in development economics as a way to describe the system of aid-recipient countries – developing economies. The recent economic crisis has brought this concept into light in developed economies where governance, both public and private, has been assumed to be sound. Euphemistically put, the unfolding of [...]
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Pak-Governance: Parallel Tracks
Posted on 31. Dec, 2008 by Ahsan Ali Mangi.
The term “good governance” has increasingly been used to describe the regulatory interventionist regime necessary to support free markets in order to reduce, minimize and dampen suboptimal market outcomes due to constraints present in the real world. The concept was also adopted by development literature whereby it was argued that better institutions (that is, better [...]
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The Desire not to Stagnate: Asif Qadir
Posted on 12. Dec, 2008 by Khadeeja Balkhi.
Asif Qadir
CEO,
Engro Polymer & Chemicals Ltd.
For those of you who’ve interacted with me recently, you know that among my current CSR passions is almost anything to do with value chain empowerment. And that’s precisely what the juicy parts of my conversation with Asif Qadir, President and CEO of Engro Polymer, were about. Now, at Engro [...]
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Water Power in Pakistan
Posted on 21. Oct, 2008 by Miriam Katz.
With the realities of climate change and the depletion of fossil fuels, renewable energy is now in the spotlight. Currently, wind and solar power have been in the news, but there are also many other sources of energy that would benefit the environment and the developing world. These sources include wave and tidal power in [...]
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Rainwater Harvesting
Posted on 21. Oct, 2008 by Zaheer Hussain Gardezi.
Sustainable Water Supply Solution in Pakistan’s Mountainous Areas?
The areas affected by the 2005 earthquake comprise some of the most idyllic places in Pakistan. However, life in these areas is becoming increasingly difficult, particularly in recent years due to the increasing scarcity of water. This has forced several people to even abandon their ancestral villages – [...]
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Pakistan’s Water Problems: Do We Care Enough to Act?
Posted on 21. Oct, 2008 by Simi Kamal.
Water pollution, discharge of effluents and unsafe drinking water are factors among others that pose a threat to human wellbeing and Pakistan’s ecosystem. While some do not have water to drink, others waste it in vast quantities. Witness the women carrying water on their heads for miles in the scorching heat on one hand, and [...]
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VC Analysis: Rooting Out Detractors
Posted on 30. Jul, 2008 by Khadeeja Balkhi.
The rather significant ass-u-m-ption in using the term value chain (VC) as opposed to supply chain is that only processes or people that add value to a product or service are considered to be a part of the value chain. In reality, this is often not the case, especially where middlemen often are observed to [...]
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Kerstin Dietrich
Posted on 18. Jul, 2008 by Khadeeja Balkhi.
Ms. Dietrich is a global specialist on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). During her recent, fourth, visit to Pakistan she graciously shared with TBL, her thoughts about the development and potential of the CDM in developing countries like Pakistan.
Khadeeja Balkhi: If you were to capture the essence of the CDM as you see it, how [...]
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Child Labour: A Tragedy
Posted on 18. Jul, 2008 by Miriam Katz.
Child labour is a reality in Pakistan. Many organizations have estimated that there could be anywhere from 8 to 19 million child labourers in the country. The age of a child is defined from age five to age fourteen, of which there are 40 million in Pakistan, according to a survey last year by the [...]
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Consumer: King or Slave?
Posted on 13. Jul, 2008 by Hamid Maker.
The consumer: the king, the epitome of the downstream value chain; the recipient of massive corporate efforts. Or corporate scams? Misleading advertisements? Victim of hoarding practices?
Consumer Ethics and CSR
CSR is beyond the letter of the law. It embodies the spirit of trust, respect for the rules of trade, environment and society’s, including consumers’ interest. It [...]
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Indus Basin Irrigation System of Pakistan
Posted on 10. Jul, 2008 by Fazlur Rahman Siddiqi.
Pakistan, a country of enchanting landscapes offers a combination of beaches, mountains, beautiful deserts and valleys. Its vast farm lands are sustained by the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world. The IBIS irrigates 45 million acres of farm land which produces wheat, rice, fruits, vegetables, sugarcane, maize and [...]
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Common Sense Approaches to A ‘Food Secure’ Pakistan
Posted on 22. May, 2008 by Majid Sheikh.
An interesting advertisement appeared in the national press in mid-May 2008, seeking tenders for food supply in various prisons in Sindh. The benchmark was three meals of 150 grams wheat flour each on an average. Immediately one thought of the wheat crisis, as well as the food crisis, and the mind began to calculate.
Extrapolating Prison [...]
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Pakistan’s CSR Mentality Change
Posted on 20. May, 2008 by Andrew Webster.
Since arriving in Karachi nine months ago, I have heard widespread criticism of CSR in Pakistan for being focused on philanthropy as opposed to sustainable business practices. Such criticism results in calls for a change in mindset in relation to CSR. However, on their own these calls will have little effect.
In reflecting on my previous [...]
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Commodity Crises: A Liberal Capitalist Perspective
Posted on 18. May, 2008 by Ali Salman.
In 1997, Vietnam, a predominantly agricultural country where 80 percent of the population is rural, lifted the internal and external trade restrictions on rice: its main staple. 95 percent of urban households are net buyers of rice and a North-South divide exists in terms of rice production. The incidence of poverty in the rural areas,
45 [...]
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CSR and Low-Income Housing: A Plausible Framework
Posted on 18. May, 2008 by Jawad Aslam.
Currently, Pakistan has an overall housing backlog exceeding 6 million units with an annual addition of 300,000 units – based upon conservative estimates from the Population Census of 1998 and the National Housing Policy of 2001. Roughly 30-40 percent of the demand is addressed by mainstream developers who cater to the high-end market. The remaining [...]
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