It is easy to be cynical about governance in Pakistan. We are used to a cycle of ambitious groundbreakings followed by stalled machinery, cost overruns, and eventual abandonment. Yet, amidst the noise of political theatre, a quiet but radical shift in how the state does business has been taking root in Sindh. It is a shift that doesn’t just rely on government coffers but acknowledges a simple reality: the state cannot do it alone.

While the media cycle often fixates on urban waste management or political squabbles, the Sindh government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) unit has been building a portfolio that the rest of the federation would do well to study. This isn’t just partisan rhetoric; the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked Sindh 6th in Asia for its enabling environment for PPPs. That ranking didn’t happen by accident. It happened because the province decided to treat the private sector as a partner rather than a contractor.

The most visible success is, naturally, on the tarmac. For decades, road infrastructure........

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