Introspection: Planning minister insists innovation key to growth

Says govt has taken several initiatives to increase potential of youth

FAISALABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said political stability, continuity in policies and quality education were vital for economic growth.

Launching the Young Development Corps (YDC) at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), he called for utilising  knowledge and research.

According to Iqbal, in 1998 there were only 350 PhDs in the country, but now, more than 75,000 PhDs were working in the country. Iqbal added that the government had kicked off Pak- US knowledge corridor under which 10,000 scholarships would be offered for 200 US universities.

“The government is also working on a Rs3 billion technology innovation research fund that will finance innovative ideas through the competitive research grant.”

Iqbal stressed that there is a need to identify the weaknesses and to play an active role in development and prosperity.

“This year the economy has registered its highest growth rate (4.7%) in the last 8 years. Additionally 10,000 megawatts electricity would be added to the system by 2018. The government is making heavy investment in energy, infrastructure, human resources and other areas.”

He said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was a hallmark step that will help the country boost economic activities. “The government is making all out efforts to uplift the agriculture sector and to address the problems of the farming community.”

He said that in the budget, the government has reduced prices of inputs and waived general sales tax on pesticides in order to make it available to the farming community.

Iqbal added that the agriculture sector had been facing many challenges including climate change and low per acre productivity for which enhanced efforts are needed to address the issue. Last year, the cotton crop faced significant reduction due to climate changes.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2016.

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