Who is one of the hottest new economic players in the Middle East? Surprisingly, a country besieged by earthquakes and constant political turmoil internally and with its neighbors, Pakistan is devloping a true middle class. Thanks to debt relief from assisting the U.S. after 9/11, as well as economic reforms that include the privatization of several industries, Pakistan's numbers are growing faster than many expected.

The proof is in the numbers. Last year the country's GDP growth rate hit 8.4 percent, the world's second highest behind China, following two years of solid 6 percent growth. This year the economy is predicted to expand by nearly 7 percent. After years of instability, with the government and military trying to distract people from their economic woes by waging jihad in Kashmir and railing against neighboring India, a true middle class is now developing. Economic reforms have given the government money to invest in health and education, and foreign investors are eying Pakistan for the first time. In many ways the country has become the world's most surprising economic success story.

Tags: Pakistan | reforms | economy