ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir is attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, marking a rare appearance by a serving army chief at the global gathering of political and business leaders.
Pakistan’s participation at Davos comes as Islamabad seeks to attract investment, project economic stability and deepen engagement with key international partners following recent reforms aimed at stabilizing the economy.
While Pakistani leaders routinely attend the World Economic Forum, it is uncommon for a serving army chief to be present. In 2017, former army chief Raheel Sharif addressed the forum only after his retirement, while General Pervez Musharraf spoke at Davos on a number of occasions in his role as president, not as military chief.
Pakistan’s governance structure has evolved in recent years, particularly through the expanded role of the military in economic decision-making through bodies such as the Special Investment Facilitation Council, a civil-military platform designed to fast-track foreign investment in sectors including minerals, energy, agriculture and technology.
“The Prime Minister and the Field Marshal met with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
