‘Space technology vital for development’

Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal has said that the role of space technology for a country's socio-economic development is inevitable while Pakistan has to achieve a lot to compete with the world.

He made these remarks while addressing the seminar titled, “Role of Space Technologies for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development of Pakistan”, jointly organised by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and Ministry of Planning Development & Special Initiatives on Monday.

The seminar was attended by the Secretary, Planning Commission, Chief Economist, Chairman SUPARCO and officials from the ministries and divisions.

Space technology has become a centrepiece as every sector whether education, agriculture, health and climate change is linked with it, said the minister, while addressing the participants of the seminar.

Iqbal further said that huge transformation changes are going on in various fields, particularly in robotics and biotechnology, however, space technology plays a key role and Pakistan needs to expedite its effort to compete with the world.

The federal minister also underlined several development projects in which space technology played a vital role in cost saving. “Due to political instability, Pakistan could not achieve such targets which other countries had achieved due to their continuity of policies,” he said while stressing the ministries and divisions to get benefit from the information being shared by SUPARCO.

Meanwhile, Secretary Ministry of Planning Commission, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, in his remarks said, space technology has a key role in the country's development and it has been placed in the SDGs to get the desired results.

“The Ministry always takes initiatives to bring advanced technology and Geo-Spatial Technology Cell is of the examples which were recently established at the planning ministry, '' he added.

The secretary also highlighted that this technology helped the government in recent floods, particularly in the post-disaster need assessment (PDNA). “Space technology played a vital role in confronting countless challenges in the fields of climate change, resource monitoring, disaster management and mitigation of health and education,” he said.

Chief Economist, Ministry of Planning Commission, Nadeem Javed gave a detailed presentation while highlighting the PSDP projects which have a positive impact on space technology. “The provision of timely and reliable information through satellite will help in better decision-making,” he remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2022.