Karachi Pakistan (January 26, 2026) : Mian Zahid Hussain, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum & All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman Policy Advisory Board FPCCI, and Former Provincial Minister Information Technology, said today that Pakistan’s diplomatic resurgence is now translating into tangible economic confidence, validated by two historic developments in Davos: the country’s entry into President Trump’s “Board of Peace” and the IMF Managing Director’s exceptional praise for Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif.
Speaking to the business community, Mian Zahid Hussain highlighted the significance of the meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. He noted that for an IMF chief to publicly state that when the Prime Minister gives his word, “it gets done”, is a rare and powerful endorsement of the country’s fiscal discipline. He stated that Ms. Georgieva’s acknowledgment—that Pakistan is finally seeing “budget discipline translating into resources”—is a clear signal to global credit rating agencies that the country has successfully exited the danger zone of default and is now on a trajectory of sustainable growth. This vote of confidence, he argued, will directly lower the risk premium on Pakistani sovereign bonds and encourage foreign direct investment.
The veteran business leader also drew special attention to the “optics of power” displayed at the Board of Peace launch ceremony in Davos. He termed the specific interaction between US President Donald Trump and Field Marshal Asim Munir as a diplomatic coup. Mian Zahid Hussain pointed out that when President Trump publicly asked the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, “Where is my favorite Field Marshal?” and acknowledged the Army Chief with such personal warmth, it demonstrated a restoration of the strategic trust between the two nations’ security establishments.
Mian Zahid Hussain emphasized that in the world of geopolitics, such personal rapport between leaderships is often the precursor to major economic concessions. He analyzed that President Trump’s visible regard for Field Marshal Asim Munir serves as a “security guarantee” for international investors, signaling that Pakistan’s stability is backed by a renewed partnership with Washington. He urged the government to leverage this unique civil-military alignment with the US to secure favorable terms for the upcoming reconstruction projects in Gaza and to fast-track the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States.
Mian Zahid Hussain concluded that the combination of the IMF’s fiscal validation and the US President’s political backing has provided Pakistan with a “golden hour” of opportunity. He called on the business community to prepare for a surge in joint ventures, as the “trust deficit” that previously hampered Pakistan’s economy has been effectively bridged by the leadership in Davos.
