Knowledge Park to help promote research, says Shahbaz

CM says govt is committed to the uplift of less-developed areas

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday the development of Lahore Knowledge Park would prove to be a milestone in education sector.

“The Knowledge Park will introduce students to the latest research methods,” the chief minister said while chairing a meeting of Lahore Knowledge Park’s board of directors.



Sharif ordered that the project be completed on time. He called for maintaining good standards and transparency during the execution of the scheme.

The meeting reviewed the primary design and master plan of the project. The chief minister said prudent policies had helped the government achieve good results in the education sector. “The goal of development cannot be achieved unless we promote education and equip the youths with knowledge,” Sharif said.

He said campuses of several renowned universities would be set up at the Knowledge Park which he said was being established at a prime location in the city. He said he hoped that the project would help bring about remarkable improvement in the education sector.



The chief minister ordered that a strategy be devised to make sure that famous universities from across the world set up their campuses at the park. He said the scheme was part of the government plan to empower the country’s youth.

Earlier, Howard University’s Professor Spiro Pollalis, advisor to the Lahore Knowledge Park Company, briefied the chief minister about the project’s design and master plan.

Higher Education Minister Begum Zakiya Shahnawaz, the Planning and Development Board chairman, DESCON Group chairman Razaq Dawood, the Higher Education secretary, the Punjab Higher Education Commission chairman and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Indsutry senior vice president Almas Haider attended the meeting.

Fort Munro development

Sharif also chaired a meeting of the Fort Munro Development Authority on Saturday in which its chairman Awais Leghari gave a briefing on proposals regarding Fort Munro Welfare City.

Rasheed Memorial Welfare Organisation chief executive Air Commodore (r) Shabbir Khan informed the participants about the establishment of Rasheedabad City.

The chief minister said the development of Fort Munro would help promote tourism in southern Punjab. He said the provincial government would consider developing Fort Munro Welfare City on the pattern of Rasheedabad City. He ordered that a committee be formed to assess the proposal for establishing Fort Munro Welfare City under the public-private partnership.



Sharif said the committee should submit its recommendations in two weeks. He said the focus had been on sustainable development. He said apart from urban areas, development projects worth billions of rupees had been launched in less-developed areas in southern Punjab.

He said the state-of-the-art Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital in Muzaffargarh was a step in this direction. Provincial Ministers Ayesha Ghaus Pasha and Tanvir Aslam Malik, Air Marshal Farooq Habib, Air Marshal (r) Qazi Javed Ahmad and the Planning and Development Board chairman attended the meeting. The Dera Ghazi Khan commissioner and the DCO participated in the meeting via video link.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.