GEOGRAPHY AND PLANNING IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES

          The world's geography has changed.  Many new countries are emerging on the basis of ethnicity and religion. Countries like the Soviet Union have disintegrated into smaller countries on the basis of economics. Whereas, on the other hand, East Germany has joined West Germany because of disparity in social and economic conditions of the two. Industrialisation of one country affects another. Investment has taken global character. The pace of industrialisation's changed. It is much faster than it used to be. Example of South Korea is before us. Pace of development has changed also. Countries are rapidly going through drastic economic changes. These changes are having socio-political effects not confined to a single region or country.

           The world is facing serious ecological problems. Population has overgrown, thus reducing  the resources available. Illiteracy is having its drastic effects on a country's social and economic growth leaving the country behind in development progress which has effects on other countries as well.

Religion is playing more role in global politics than ever before. And due to illiteracy, people of different educational levels have different comprehension of their religion, causing polarisation, nationally and globally.

On the other hand, due to scientific and technological innovations and development, properly educated manpower is lacking. The latter is not only a major source for development but in understanding the problems and doing something about it.

In order to address these grave and important problems which are affecting the world globally, there is a need for our planners to plan for a new kind of growth, vigorous growth, while observing political, economic, social and ecological constraints. We need a new kind of growth that is not based on over exploitation of any resources. Several pre-requisites are required for this change.

Foremost is investment in human resources since economic growth and human development are closely inter linked. The state of our formal education system and access to them on a basis of equality are key indicators for the country's future prosperity. Human development will require more equitable distribution within the country. Policy reform will require redistribution of assets, including land and income, as well as provision of social services. Poverty alleviation must focus on the promotion of labour-intentive production. Human capital is a first order resource that we should not allow to waste. Such social and human development is the only way to higher productivity and hence a balanced population growth, and healthier human beings and society. Planners need to look into improving condition of the poor as the guide to how to create employment, contribution to food production and foreign exchange earnings.

           Finally, a balanced tapping of the country's natural and human resources necessary for modern, productivity-oriented development depends on a national concerted will to do something. National policy can only succeed through local action involving both men and women, rich and poor. For plans in national policy to succeed, effective and appropriate service must be delivered locally and at family level. Even more important, families and communities must be involved in the policy-making and management process.

Many changes are taking place in the international economic environment and these pose challenges to the Muslim countries. The globalisation of financial markets and linked and is lending to the emergence of a single world market, to operate in which developing countries cannot rely on concessions from developed countries. It is obvious that the logic of competition is very powerful and the world economy cannot be regulated politically though this may be to promote global equity and economic justice. Thus to survive economically, the Muslim countries must accelerate the process of regional co-operation in order to respond to the challenge of a technologically dominated single global market.

The challenge is how to transform current condition of Muslim countries into pragmatic modern commonwealth ummah in the real Islamic sense. There is, at the same time, need to curtail wasteful economic activities which constitute a heavy economic loss and the gap the countries ability to develop at a fast pace. Centralised planning has an important role to play in the meaningful development of Muslim countries as a whole. Otherwise, the saying of Late Mr. Suhrawardy, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, that the common wealth of Muslim countries is like addition of many zeros will remain a fact.