Costs and benefits of Migration

The fertile region of the Indus used to have an enormous attraction to different peoples in
Exchange between business & academia the past. These attributes, nowadays called pull factors, was a magnet Indo-Europeans, Hellenes, Arabs, Turks, British and so on. Today, the push factors have become overwhelming. Consequently, the net migration rate of Pakistan is minus 3.13 per 1.000 inhabitants. That means more Pakistanis are leaving the country than other people coming to Pakistan.

This migration has several reasons. One important factor is labour. Free Markets imply the free choice of the individual. In the labour market, these economic decisions are: offering man power or services, and hiring or buying labour. In a free market demand and supply meet each other on a level playing field. This means for the individual to offer his or her services in free competition wherever it is demanded.

Where do they go? What impact has this migration on Pakistan in economy and society? Economic Freedom Network Pakistan (EFN) examined the causes and effects with its
Experts invited by EFN in search for solutions seminar “Migration and Wealth of Nations”. Diplomats, scholars, politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen presented in the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry their ideas and had critical look on Pakistan’s economy.

Besides the often inhuman conditions of migration, especially in trafficking, and besides criminal networks building up black market of human beings also the official emigration leads to deficiencies. Brain drain is a constantly ongoing. On the other hand migrant workers contribute to Pakistan’s economy significantly by remittances and higher skills after returning. Furthermore, remittances are shared outside of the recipient household, and may have important multiplier effects.

Connectivity is one of the crucial characteristics of the globalized world. Migration is one aspect of this connectivity. On the one hand, migration is a natural phenomenon that has always characterized human history. On the other hand, it indicates grave economic problems in the countries of origin, and it also leads to manifold problematic consequences in the target countries, in economic and social terms. Regional Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation ( FNF) Dr. René Klaff thus formulated the way to go: “Our shared objective remains to work for strengthening a viable, prosperous society in which citizens can lead a dignified life as free, responsible citizens.”

EFN, partner of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), does its best not only to strengthen free market economy in Pakistan proper to reduce the economical and human costs of migration. For EFN’s Chief Coordinator and Organizer of the Seminar, Zubair Ahmed Malik, this seminar was one step into the right direction: “Lets make Pakistan economically, politically and socially strong – by empowering its people.”

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