On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, Dr. Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar, former Governance Specialist at the Economic Reforms Unit of Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, addressed the participants of 33^rd SMC on “State-Market Relationship in Pakistan”. He explained the need for improving investment to GDP ratio in Pakistan. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, most investment is going either into real estate or into immigration abroad. In such circumstances foreign investors will come and engage in rentier arrangements. He also highlighted the problems plaguing Pakistan which were inability to pay back debts and having a large young population without quality education/skills. The solution, he said lay in the area where the state and market interact. Focus should be on how to contribute. He gave example of US where the government funds all research, which is then utilized by the private sector to manufacture products. He gave the example of the US Army using internet way back in the 70’s. The Guest Speaker emphatically advocated policy to benefit innovative entrepreneurs. He highlighted the need to strengthen the IT sector as it could provide huge gains within a year. He also stressed the need to systematically analyze policy impacts to create better policies.