Monday 3 September 2012

The Real Potential of Pakistan – The Northern Valleys


Pakistan homes are attracting the businessmen’s attraction now as the country has gone through the troubling era of 2008 and 2009 when the property prices had dropped as there was a general unrest in the world market and Pakistan was obviously no exception. Though the property prices in the major business centers like Karachi and Lahore never went down but the upward trend that was being observed for the past four or five years was wedged. This halted the further investment in the property sector of the country but the year 2011 and the first half of 2012 has seen some positive moves in this direction.

It has been generally observed that the focus of the businessmen in Pakistan has been largely on the big cities only that are Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and to some extent Rawalpindi and Multan. The investors have been unable to explore the northern areas of the country and the negligence is shared by the government in this regard which failed to realize the actual potential of the hill-stations of Pakistan. In 2009, the Gilgit Baltistan areas were given the status of a province and this has empowered the local people to develop these areas. They have shown great interest in developing these areas and have also been able to attract the tourists from different parts of the world.

The northern areas of Pakistan possess some of the most eye-catching sites in the world. Nature has bestowed this country with utmost beauty and some of the sites are so spell-bounding that it is almost impossible to take one’s eyes off them once glanced at. The striking sites of DeoSai Valley in Baltistan cast a sort of magic spell on the viewer and that is why thousands of visitors from across the country and from other parts of the world visit these places. It has been taken up as tourists’ spot by the administration and is being developed by the government as it is a fact that this industry can earn much more for the country than it is currently doing. These valleys and hill-stations are the crown of Pakistan real estate market.

If this and the dozens of other splendid hill-stations of the country are looked at by the business community, it has the potential to charm thousands of visitors towards itself. The transport industry and the hotel business are also offshoots of the tourism industry and once the property prices start to augment, there is no looking back. Pakistan is not just the energy of Karachi and the culture of Lahore. It is the home to the highest of mountains of the world, prettiest of the valleys and the rivers and lakes running through them. It is the land of four seasons and most importantly it is the home to a hundred and eighty million loving and hospitable people which make it the sixth largest population and thus the sixth largest potential market of the world.