The Friendship Tree

The Current State Of The Global Pharmaceutical Industry

2015 is progressing as a very busy year for the world healthcare sector. Bristol-Myers-Squibb is introducing its anti-cancer drugs in Europe this summer. In the face of the declining efficacy of the current range of antibiotics, the Developed World is actively engaged in encouraging & funding its researchers to invent new antibiotics. China, partly to address the evolving healthcare needs of its own overseas citizens & partly to assist the World Health Organization (WHO) in its activities, is regulating & marketing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to the world.

Of the afore-mentioned efforts, the most promising one is the TCM project spearheaded by the Chinese Government. But the responsibility of global healthcare can't be shouldered by a single nation, no matter how dedicated it may be; in order to be successful, it has to be a collective enterprise.

Pakistan - China Agricultural Joint Venture Feasibility

Gwadar Port is set to become a very important port in the region. Its location just outside the Strait of Hormuz makes it a critical port on the shipping routes in & out of the Persian Gulf. It is the nearest warm water seaport to the Central Asian Republics (CARs) & Afghanistan, making it the port of choice for the maritime trade of these nations. In addition, the surrounding region holds approximately 65% of the world's oil reserves, making Gwadar one of the top ports of choice in the international oil industry.

However, Balochistan has been a victim of instability & underdevelopment since so long, that the Province has come to symbolize hardship & uncertainty. There are literally dozens of people who went missing in Balochistan & were never found, whose loved ones have filed cases pleading for their safe return in the Pakistani courts. Smuggler gangs continue to jeopardize the economy of Balochistan. Until a short while ago, broad daylight assassinations in the provincial capital Quetta were an everyday happening. The authorities have made several efforts to control the situation through law-enforcement operations, but the perpetrators remain strangely unscathed, thereby rendering such operations utterly futile.

However, it is an accepted principle that every country must design its systems in keeping with the culture of the region. In Pakistan, it is a verifiable fact that agricultural belts face the lowest crime rates in the country. Take Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province: it is said that the tribal areas are practically crawling with foreign militants - but the rural areas of Hazara Division have the biggest rural population of literate citizens in Pakistan!

Therefore, instead of a band-aid solution like law-enforcement operations, why not set up farms & plantations in Gwadar? Most people would counter that Gwadar is nowhere near as fertile as Hazara Division, so how can the same solution be applied there? The answer is that yes, Gwadar is not Haripur - which is why the Friendship Tree is just the plant for the job.

Crassula ovata (The Friendship Tree)

The Friendship Tree flourishes in what is known as a Mediterranean climate; it needs open, sunny spaces & moderate moisture levels. It is native to the southern belt of South Africa, because the climate there consists of cold, wet winters & hot, dry summers - in other words, suitable for the Friendship Tree. Southern Balochistan is quite similar & consequently an appropriate location for Crassula ovata plantations.

Crassula ovata is used in a number of inexpensive but effective herbal treatments. It is efficacious enough that not only does it hold a place of respect in African herbal medicine, it even figures in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is used to treat diseases & complaints as diverse as diabetes, diarrhea, epilepsy, nausea & warts. It is also used in cosmetics such as shampoos, styling gels & facial cleansers.

Most of the development currently being carried out in Balochistan is being managed by Chinese enterprises. Considering the fact that China has recently announced its interest in international agricultural joint ventures & the fact that the Chinese are well-acquainted with the applications of the Friendship Tree, it makes sense to engineer a collaboration between the Balochistan landowners & the Chinese pharmaceutical companies to launch commercially-viable Crassula ovata plantations.

Crime is born of either too much time (i.e. involuntary unemployment) or too much money (i.e. voluntary unemployment). If there is a crime rate problem in Balochistan that dozens of operations have not been able to solve, it means that the answer is employment. Technical jobs would take time because the majority of the population of Balochistan doesn't have technical training; but agriculture runs in an Asian's blood. Thriving plantations would spring up in a matter of weeks or months. Maybe that is why Crassula ovata is known as "The Friendship Tree".