Introduction

For a nation to progress it must have a clear idea of its longer-term aspirations. Without this clarity it will neither be able to prepare a coherent road map for action nor adopt and implement the policies that would lead towards the objectives. A national vision is meant to provide clarity to our shared vision of the future. Indeed, Pakistan was founded on such a vision—the “Pakistani Dream”, a vision of a prosperous, equitable, tolerant, and dynamic society—which was at the heart of the Independence Movement, even if, over the years, its clarity has diminished. It was the foundational vision for the new country, inspired by that generation of leaders, and articulated through the struggles of our people for independence and nationhood. The purpose of this document and all that has gone into its preparation is to recreate this vision, re-build upon it, and help translate it into reality.

Since 1947, Pakistan has made considerable progress on many fronts. However, on the eve of our 68th independence day, there is consensus that the pace of progress has not been commensurate with the promise and potential of our nation; we need to do better and faster. There is a general misconception that faster means no or less planning and more action. The reality is that the quality of planning is one of the key determinants of the speed of action and desired outcomes. Over time, the nature and role of planning has undergone a major transformation. Today the national planning process is more participatory, collaborative, people and market oriented. Plans succeed when they manifest the aspirations of a nation, empower the citizens, and especially the private sector to play their respective roles, provide equal equitable opportunities to all and assign a very well defined role to government as a supporter, facilitator, regulator and performance driven service provider. 

Pakistan Vision 2025 is designed to represent an aspirational destination. It will serve as a critical guide-post for the development of an effective strategy and road-map to reach our national goals and aspirations. It is not meant to represent the resultant strategy and programme itself. The Vision will be realized through strategies and programmes defined in associated five-year and annual plans.
Pakistan today faces formidable social, economic, security and governance challenges. Many nations have faced similar challenges in history and successfully turned them into opportunities through sound economic planning, good governance and consistency in policy implementation. We believe that, once effectively addressed, our challenges likewise offer unprecedented opportunities for transformational progress. As we pass through an era of unprecedented change and complexity, it is imperative that we refresh our framework for national development. A renewed commitment to the founding vision is needed, both to address the current challenges and set out realistic and ambitious targets for the future—including ensuring that Pakistan succeeds in achieving the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of zero poverty and hunger, universal access to health services, education, modern energy services, clean water and sanitation, and join the league of Upper Middle Income countries by 2025. Our ultimate aspiration is to see Pakistan among the ten largest economies of the world by 2047 – the centennial year of our independence.

Pakistan is currently facing serious challenges on various fronts. These include the combination of low growth and high inflation, which is one of the major factors leading to the perpetuation of poverty and unemployment. Energy shortages have posed great problems to the citizens as well as businesses and agriculture. Social indicators reflect serious deficiencies in education, health and population, gender equity and social services. The law and order situation in the country poses a critical threat to security as well as the economy. The decade-long struggle against terrorism and extremism continues to impose immense social, economic, and human costs.

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The challenges are compounded by a number of adverse exogenous developments, especially the looming threat of climate change, the aftermath of global economic, financial, and energy crises, unabated fragility of the global financial system, and the continued stagnation in developed country import demand as well as aid flows.

The situation calls for a consensus-based national vision and comprehensive strategy to not only combat these challenges, but also proactively embrace the future based on ‘The Pakistani Dream’, which lay at the heart of the movement for the creation of Pakistan.

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