thought leadership by Hussain Farooq President HF Corporation
CAN WE ACHIEVE GLOBALISATION IN THE TRUE SENSE WITHOUT FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT? he world we are living in has indeed become a global village. The 20th century saw a rapid increase in one trend — that of globalisation. Communication and travelling became easier. Countries joined forces to form inter-governmental organisations. The establishment of supranational organisations such as the European Union (EU), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and Organisation of African Unity (OAU) led to closer integration of regional countries. The EU set an example in terms of regional cooperation by not only allowing free trade between the member states, but also by affording undeniable rights of settlement to nationals of one member state into another. The initial years of the 21st century witnessed globalisation at an even greater pace with businesses expanding at an exponential rate. Social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and LinkedIn played a great role in connecting people across the world. However, despite all these advancements and international cooperation, we still witness major differences in the value of nationalities of different countries. For some nationalities, this value continues to rise, while it maintains a downward trend for certain other nationalities. Some economies continue to grow at exponential rates, while economies of some developed countries are bracing for economic slowdown in the coming times. Passport holders of certain countries continue to enjoy everincreasing privileges of visa-free travel while international travel continues to become even more cumbersome for nationals of some countries. ‘African trade meeting has no Africans after US visa denials’, was one of the most important pieces of news published in Voice of America on March 17 2019. The news, later reported by many other widely read publications, including The Guardian and The Independent, may have come as a surprise to some in the so-called developed world, but to people in Africa and certain Asian countries this is their everyday story.
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THE CITIZEN
