New Vision for Economic Transformation

Rethinking Resource Allocation and Productive Structure

This document presents a vision for economic transformation, with a focus on understanding key factors which have prevented this from happening in the case of Pakistan. It draws from the experience of other emerging economies and leading economic research on how countries have successfully transformed their economies by letting their productive structures adapt and evolve over time. In this respect, the current document is a significant departure from the traditional focus on achieving growth by reinforcing existing structures of the economy. While such traditional approaches did deliver many episodes of growth spurts, these always proved to be short lived, often leading to the build-up of large imbalances and, ultimately, crises.

Media Release

Economic Advisory Group (EAG)

The Economic Advisory Group is an independent platform of individuals drawn from economics, policy and the private sector. The EAG deliberates on Pakistan’s economic policies regularly and shares its views with the public and government. It was formed in January 2021, under the auspices of PRIME Institute, an independent think tank, which serves as its secretariat.

Gallery & Events

Members

Dr. Aadil Nakhoda ​

Chair
Dr. Aadil Nakhoda is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. He has a PhD in International Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He specialises in international trade.

Dr. Ali Salman ​

 
Dr. Ali Salman is founder and Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME). He holds a Doctorate from the University of Bath, UK with special interest in economic policy and governance and contributes regularly in print and electronic media. Dr Salman is a recipient of Fulbright Scholarship, Charles Wallace Fellowship and Royal Netherlands Fellowship.

Dr. Ahmed Jamal Pirzada

 
Ahmed Pirzada is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Bristol, and a Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK. He specialises in monetary policy and has written extensively on economic challenges facing Pakistan. Previously, Pirzada was also the Chair of Economic Advisory Group. His research interests and publications can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site /ajpirzada/home

Muhammad Ashraf Khan

 
Muhammad Ashraf Khan is retired federal secretary, Government of Pakistan. In his 35 years of civil service, he had several stints in economic and commerce ministries. After his retirement, in 2011, he carried out a study on tariff rationalization of Pakistan for the International Growth Centre, London, along with Garry Pursell. The report is named “Pakistan’s Trade Policies: Future Directions”. In 2011, he wrote a report “A critical analysis of export subsidies and concessions” for the World Bank. He now lives in Islamabad with active interest in current affairs and his family farming business.

Najma Pirzada

 
Najma Pirzada is the Director of Corporate Finance, Economics & Policy at the Life Sciences Division. She was the CEO/Managing Editor at Global Village Space. She has worked as a professional banker in financial institutions in New York, London and Pakistan. She has also closely interacted with senior stakeholders (both from the private and public sector) including, government regulatory authorities, senior public officials, donor agencies, grassroots non-governmental organizations, research organizations, and think tanks.

Samir Ahmed

 
Samir Ahmed has 35+ years of financial services experience in commercial & investment banking, capital markets and PE. He has a Bachelors degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a Masters from London Business School.

Dr. Sajid Amin Javed

 
Dr. Sajid Amin Javed is the Deputy Executive Director and founding head of Policy Solutions Lab at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Pakistan. He is a macroeconomist with a focus on social content in macroeconomic policies. His specializes on interdisciplinary inquiry of issues related to structure of economic growth, inclusiveness and sustainability of growth and sustainable development.

Mueen Batlay

 
Mueen Batlay is CEO of Think Build Scale (Pvt) Ltd, a consulting firm that focuses on engaging with promising new sectors of Pakistan. He has diverse experience across the public and private sectors that includes investment banking, project finance, multilateral agencies, startups, fintech, government regulation, academia and consulting. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.

Dr. Vaqar Ahmed

 
Dr. Vaqar Ahmed serves in advisory capacity at many national, regional and international institutions and forums. He was Joint Executive Director at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and he is currently on sabbatical. His research work on inclusive growth, trade, public finance and sustainable development has been published extensively.

Adil Mansoor

 
Muhammad Adil Mansoor is a policy analyst with 11 years of experience in economic and financial research. He leads policy analysis at Daily Business Recorder (BR Research), focusing on market reforms, monetary policy, private sector credit, and food systems. Previously, he managed a billion-dollar asset portfolio as a corporate banker and is a member of the Economic Advisory Group (EAG).

Former Chairs

Dr. Ali Hasanain

2024
Dr. Ali Hasanain is the former Head of the Economics Department at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mahbub ul Haq Research Center, a CDPR Fellow, and a faculty advisor at the Technology for People Initiative. His research focuses primarily on how public service delivery can be improved through reform initiatives, particularly through technological progress and improvements in the media. He also studies how information and communication technologies (ICT) can improve market functioning.

Dr Ahmed Jamal Pirzada

2023

Javed Hassan

2021-2022
Javed Hassan has worked in senior executive positions both in the profit and non-profit sector in Pakistan and internationally. He’s an investment banker by training. He was the first chair of EAG.

Members Profile

Syed Javed Hassan, CHAIRMAN EAG/NAVTTC:

Javed held senior investment banking positions in London and Hong Kong before returning to Pakistan. In Pakistan, he was CEO IGI Insurance. He writes regularly for the Arab News.

Ali Salman FOUNDER and Executive Director PRIME:

Ali is an economist, and has worked for government, multilateral agencies and the private sector. He has served as CEO of a leading Malaysian think tank, IDEAS. Ali is author of “Islam and Economics: A Primer on Markets, Morals and Justice”.

Dr. Aadil Nakhoda ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, KARACHI:

Aadil is a research fellow at CBER, IBA. He holds a PhD in international economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Muhammad Ashraf Khan, FORMER FEDERAL SECRETARY:

Ashraf has served mostly in economic ministries. After his retirement in 2011, he carried out a study on tariff rationalization of Pakistan for the International Growth Centre, London.

Najma Pirzada MANAGING EDITOR & CEO OF GLOBAL VILLAGE SPACE PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD

Whilst also managing her consultancy, Governance & Policy Advisors, Najma has worked on regional peace-building through trade and tourism.

Dr. Shazia Ghani TEAM LEAD, PM SPECIAL INITIATIVES CELL:

Shazia works on the Prime Minister’s priority initiatives in CPEC, FDI and Strategic Reforms. She is research associate for Grenoble Centre of Economics Research, Grenoble, France.

Dr. Ahmed Jamal Pirzada ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL UK:

Ahmed is an Assistant Professor at the University of Bristol UK. His research interest revolves around understanding firms' price decisions.

Samir Ahmed, CEO, KNIGHTSBRIDGE CAPITAL GROUP

Samir has more than 30 years of diversified experience in the financial sector, spanning investment banking, commercial banking, and capital markets.

Mueen Batlay DIRECTOR, HAMDARD INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES, CEO Think Scale Build (Pvt) Ltd

Mueen has been an investment banker, launched a fintech startup, worked at the World Bank on capital markets and privatisation, and with government on antitrust and investment.

Dr. Vaqar Ahmed JOINT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SDPI

Earlier, Vaqar has served UNDP as Advisor, and has undertaken assignments with Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and Ministries of Finance.

Dr. Salamat Ali Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

Salamat is a trade economist with specialization in trade policy analysis. He holds a PhD in International Trade from the University of Nottingham.

Maheen Rahman CEO, Infra Zamin Pakistan

Infra Zamin is an initiative by the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), InfraCo Asia, Guarantco and Karandaaz Group Company.

Publications

Publications

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor
Read More

Event announcements

Event announcements

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor
Read More

Press Releases

Press Releases

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor
Read More

Press Releases

Press Releases

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor
Read More

Contact Us