Why Most Development Projects Fail in Pakistan? A Plausible Explanation

Abstract

The need for effective .project planning in the farmework of macro planning has always been very strong in Pakistan as projects form the basis of development. Without the successful execution of projects, it is unlikely that development plans could be implemented effectively. In Pakistan an elaborate machinery for the planning of development projects exists but its prformance has been far from satisfactory. If one has to write the porject history of Pakistan, one wiII come across numerous examples of projects that have failed due to the ineffecient functioning of this machinery. Needless to say these failures have cost the economy billions of rupees, which in a capital-scarce economy like Pakistan, would have made a substantial difference towards economic development had this machinery operated efficiently. The objective of this paper is two fold: first to indentify shortcomings and weak links in the project planning system which are responsible for the failure of most projects. Failure here refers to the lack of implementation in time and within the project's planned budget estimates. And second, to suggest appropriate remedial policy measures. Experience has shown that the process of project planning and implementation in the country has suffered from inherent problems ranging from conceptual differences about the projects, hurriedly prepared feasibility studies deficient in proper technical and. economic underpinnings and the lack of basic information obtained through insufficient investigation and surveys to inadequate project monitoring and almost non-existent in-depth evaluation studies.