ishrat husain : unleashing entrepreneurship chief guest address by mr ishrat husain, governor of the state bank of pakistan, at the launching of un secretary general ’ s report on unleashing entrepreneurship, karachi, 28 december 2004. * * * i wish to commend the fpcci and undp for launching the report of the commission appointed by the secretary general on unleashing entrepreneurship. the commission had learned scholars and practitioners such as prof. c. k. prahalad and mr. hernando de soto as members for whose views on poverty alleviation are highly refreshing and i have great respect for them. the report reflects their views and hence the report is not only useful but practicable. the commission has made an extremely important contribution to the debate on how to harness the energies and entrepreneurs of the private firms, farmers, businesses - big or small, corporate or individual - for the larger benefit of the majority of the poor. it is also gratifying to note that the fear about the power and domination of multinational corporations and private businesses that has become a rallying point for anti - globalization forces has given way to a more balanced and sobering analysis of the role of private sector and private - public partnership in the report. the rhetoric against liberalization of trade has been replaced in the report by the consensus view that open markets support economic growth. the commission has rightly distilled the lessons of last five decades ’ experience of development. it argues that favorable global and domestic macro 1environment, physical and social infrastructure and rule of law are the foundations for the private sector. and a level playing field, access to financing, access to skills and knowledge are the pillars of entrepreneurship. if i examine the findings of this report in light of what we have tried to do in pakistan during the last five years we can proudly claim that we have made strides in fostering and ensuring a stable domestic macroeconomic environment, taken initiative in building physical and social infrastructure, and made serious endeavors to ensure a level playing field for all economic players whether large or small, domestic or foreign. we have, however, not been able to make much headway so far in our quest for achieving rule of law across the board particularly for the poor in our country who still face enormous difficulties. we have also remained slack in skills and knowledge development. there is a mismatch between the skills required by the economy and the skills produced by our educational

prejudices in france ; for example, the idea that unemployment in france can be explained by the euro being undervalued for german industry and overvalued for french factories. in fact, if unemployment is higher in france it is because the labour market is performing less well. we must overcome these prejudices, which fuel populism. everyone needs to do their bit. this is something that emmanuel macron has understood very well. france is expected to make proposals about reforming the euro area. but to be credible, it must itself undertake the reforms necessary to bring the french unemployment rate closer to the best performers within the eu. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches