THE purpose of the Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) is to provide a forum where leading professional economists and policy-makers can exchange ideas on the vital economic and social issues facing Pakistan. With the passage of time, the philosophy of development has undergone a profound change. There is now, as never before, an increasing awareness of the complexities involved in the development process which has engendered a greater sense of realism. In Pakistan’s development experience, a number of problems typically confronting developing countries in their progress towards a self- reliant economy have been tackled. These problems are complex and multidimensional in nature. High rates of population growth, uneven distribution of income, low literacy rates, poor health facilities, relatively low savings rates, large internal and external deficits, and inadequate physical infrastructure for energy generation and communications threaten to nullify the modest economic gains made here, as in many other developing countries. Despite these problems, the development process in Pakistan has progressed reasonably well, although not without encountering difficulties. The Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Society is also an occasion for stock-taking of the work done, at PIDE and elsewhere, on various socio-economic problems of Pakistan as well as for suggesting new initiatives for further research. These Meetings provide for the much-needed communication amongst the economics profession, policy-makers, and various schools of interested observers of the ongoing debate concerning development. The Seventeenth Annual General Meeting, being held on January 14-16, 2002, will address such important topics as structural adjustment, poverty, and growth, issues in fiscal policy, demographic issues, exchange rate policy, financial markets, debt burden and growth, poverty and policy reforms, agriculture and poverty, governance, trade performance, industry and technological development, monetary economics, human development, trade liberalisation: growth and poverty, and gender and poverty. A highlight of this year’s Conference is the Inaugural Address by Mr Shaukat Aziz, Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning. Government of Pakistan. The Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Lecture, being delivered by Professor Robert A. Mundell (Nobel Laureate) of Columbia University, is titled “Debt, Growth, and Poverty in the International Monetary System”. The Iqbal Memorial Lecture, by Professor Peter Nunnenkamp, of the Kiel Institute of World Economics, will be on “Why Economic Growth Trends Differ So Much across Emerging Markets in the Era of Globalisation”. The Mahbub ul Haq Memorial Lecture, by Professor Fakhari A. Siddiqui, of Bishop’s University, is titled “The Importance of a Population Policy in Pakistan”. The Ghulam Mohammad Memorial Lecture, by Professor John W. Mellor of Abt Associates, Inc., will be on “Employment Multipliers from Agricultural Growth and Poverty Reduction”. A Distinguished Lecture, by Professor Anita M. Weiss of the University of Oregon, will be on “Social Development, Empowerment of Women, and the Expansion of Civil Society: Alternative Ways out of the Debt and Poverty Trap”. A forum on “Economic Vision of the Quaid-i-Azam” will be a special feature of this year’s conference.

PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE 17th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF PSDE – 2002

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