Economic growth : Research, innovation lead to socio-economic development: expert

Dr Attaur Rahman emphasises on importance of research, technology

KARACHI: Government policies, academic research and innovation are the three main reasons that lead to socio-economic development in any country, said Dr Attaur Rahman on Thursday, as he explained how Pakistan can grow economically.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) former chairperson Dr Attaur Rahman was addressing students at the international relations department of the University of Karachi (KU). The session was organised under the lecture series, 'Knowledge as engine for socio-economic development,' by social sciences faculty dean Professor Dr Moonis Ahmer.



Giving the example of Korea and Singapore, Rahman talked about how the two countries have grown economically, despite having no natural resources as compared to Pakistan. "Singapore is one-fourth of Karachi in terms of population, still its gross domestic product (GDP) is $467 billion, which is 20% more than the whole of Pakistan," he said during his presentation. He added that in 1960, Korea's 50% GDP was contributed by low value agriculture and in 2000s over 50% GDP was contributed by high value agriculture, engineering and electronics products.

Emphasing on the importance of research and education, Rahman said that one should believe in investing in innovation and research. "The time of depending on natural resources is vanishing [and] it is high time to invest and work on technology," he said. Rahman believes that it is a wake-up call, if a country as small as Singapore can have more exports than Pakistan.

Pointing out the extensive investment in the primary education level, the HEC chairperson said that investment should be done in all sectors and levels equally. "There is a dire need to invest in all levels from primary to higher education, as it will help us grow as an educated nation," he said.

Rahman explained how education and institutes can change the entire system in the country. He said Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates and faculty have founded 11,000 companies, which are employing 1.1 million people with annual sales of $2,000 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th,  2016.