‘Political stability crucial for achieving economic development’

Dr Ahsan Iqbal says strong efforts needed to overcome financial challenges

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Dr Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday termed political stability and continuity of policies as essential for achieving economic development in the country.

“If you want to continue playing in the political theatre; you cannot bring positive reforms in the economic theatre”, he said while speaking at a ceremony to celebrate the landmark of China-Pakistan Space Science and Technology cooperation on the eve of the return of Pakistani Seeds from Chinese Space at COMSTECH.

The ceremony was arranged by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Pakistan, COMSTECH and the International Center for Chemical and Biological Center, University of Karachi.

This space mutagenesis for crop improvement project was jointly collaborated by the People’s Republic of China, the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) under the ministry, and the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi.

Dr Iqbal said that strong efforts were needed to overcome the challenge of the economic crisis inherited by the ineffective policies of the previous government.

“As a nation where we stand today; we have to decide either support polarisation, disorder or conflict in the country or uphold the principles of unity and solidarity,” he said.

He said that the secrets behind China’s success lie in stability, social solidarity and continuity of policies which helped the country achieve progress on all fronts.

The federal minister stated that space technology is one of those technologies which are most critical for human development and security. All the sectors including health, education, agriculture, forestry, and climate change are interlinked with space technology for advancement.

“We need to build the capacity of our researchers and scientists to utilise space technology for managing all these sectors otherwise we will not be able to manage human resources efficiently and defend our country in the future”, he added.

Since space technology and its application is capital intensive and require sufficient resources for which economic stability is important to achieve, he observed. It is very unfortunate that our country has lagged behind in the field of research and technology, he lamented.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2023.