BNU Center for Policy Research (BCPR)

In recognition of the need beyond dissemination of received wisdom by contributing to the stock of knowledge through enquiry, research and interaction, Beaconhouse National University has set up a Center for Policy Research (BCPR) as an independent center for policy-oriented research in applied socio-economic areas.  

The principal purpose underlying the establishment of the BCPR is to foster a culture of research and analysis. In keeping with the interdisciplinary approach of BNU, the center explores new avenues for research by taking an integrated view of Pakistan’s policy issues in the context of our economic, political and social realities, their changing dynamics and global developments. It is a platform for interacting with organizations, academia, think tanks and related institutions in Pakistan and abroad. 

Thriving under the patronage of eminent personalities including Dr. Hafiz A. Pasha, Mr. Shahid Hafiz Kardar and others, BCPR is in a strategic position to benefit the policy research and practice communities from their unique experience continuing from a presence at key policy making fora. They have contributed extensively to the policy debate through policy papers and their counsel has been regularly sought by successive governments both through formal institutional structures and informal exchanges. 

Using data analytics and macroeconomic modeling techniques developed indigenously by our experts over the years for projections of economic outcomes, BCPR shall furnish evidence-based research to develop specific proposals and recommendations to all relevant stakeholders for informed and inclusive policy making in Pakistan.

BCPR envisions approaching the idea of development from the lens of its likely beneficiaries, making them primary stakeholders in policy-making exercises. It will function as an independent Think Tank to benefit citizens and elicit research to contribute to the ever-evolving narrative for human development, economic and social welfare and sustainable growth. 

• Mr. Shahid Hafiz Kardar (Chairperson)

  Mr. Shahid Hafiz Kardar is an ACA from England and a graduate of the University Of Oxford (PPE). He has served as the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan and Minister for Finance, Planning & Development, Excise and Taxation and Industries & Minerals Development, Government of Punjab (1999-2001). He had also held several other key positions including a member of the National Commission for Government Reform, Banking Laws Review Commission, Task Force on Education established by the Government of Pakistan, the British Government and Honorary Treasurer of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). He has also served as a Chairman of the Punjab Education Foundation that launched internationally acknowledged programs. Mr. Kardar has also provided consultancy services to multilateral and bilateral donors like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. He is the son of former test cricket captain Abdul Hafiz Kardar. He has authored three books and contributes to journals and newspapers regularly. 
  
  Mr. Kardar served as the member of Board of Governors, Beaconhouse National University and Beaconhouse Foundation before joining BNU as the 2nd Vice Chancellor.

• Dr. Hafiz A. Pasha (Member/Director)

  Dr. Pasha has remained Dean of the School of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and Vice Chairman of the Institute of Public Policy at BNU until 2013. He has served as Chairman of the Advisory Panel of Economists to the Planning Commission, Convener of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of the Tax Advisory Council of Federal Board of Revenue. 
  
  From 2001 to 2007, Dr. Pasha was UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific of UNDP. Dr. Pasha has held a number of important public appointments including the Federal Commerce Minister, Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Deputy Chairman/Federal Minister of the Planning Commission, and Education Minister in three governments. He has also been the Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi, Dean and Director of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, and Research Professor and Director of the Applied Economics Research Centre, Karachi.
  
  Dr. Pasha has a M.A. from Cambridge University, U.K and PhD from Stanford University, U.S.A. He was awarded in 2005 the Congressional Medal of Achievement by the Philippines Congress. 
  
  In 2012, he received the Engro Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the field of Social Sciences. He has published over 150 books and articles in the fields of governance, public finance, urban and regional economics, poverty and social development, industry, energy, economics etc.

• Zaeem Yaqoob Khan (Member/Secretary)

  Zaeem Yaqoob Khan is an academic, researcher and Higher Education manager with over 17 years of experience in Pakistan serving different roles in the HE sector. He has graduate degrees in Computer Science and Development Studies (Development, Technology & Policy). He has a rare honor of being less than 1% of global learners to earn a MicroMasters credential in Data Economics and Development Policy, an initiative by J-PAL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA under the tutelage of American Economists and 2019 winners of Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.
  
  His research interests include technology policy, entrepreneurship, cultural economics, evidence-based policy making and randomized control trials and field experiments.
  
  Currently, he is working at Beaconhouse National University (BNU) in the capacities of Executive Director of Student Affairs & External Relations and Member and Secretary of the BNU Center for Policy Research.
  
  Zaeem is the 2012 Fellow of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) by the US Department of State and has done advocacy, research and training projects with the World Bank Group, German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), The Danish Centre for Culture and Development (CKU) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Pakistan.

• Ms. Hafsa Tanveer (Member)

  Hafsa has done her MPhil in Economics from Lahore School of Economics (LSE). She holds an undergraduate degree of double majors in Economics and Finance from Lahore School of Economics. Her interest are in theoretical modelling, development economics and environmental economics.  

• Policy Papers

  Proposals to Address the Short Term Challenge to the Economy (Downloadable) 

  ‘Homegrown’ Reform Agenda for IMF Program (Downloadable)

  ‘Homegrown’ Revenue Mobilization Strategy (Downloadable)

  Economic Impact of the IMF Program (Downloadable)

  ‘Homegrown’ Macroeconomic Framework (Downloadable)