Daily Times

Prime Minister Shehabaz Sharif on Tuesday said despite the history’s most difficult period, the coalition government had steered the country out of economic crisis.

During the last 16 months years, the incumbent government faced the most difficult challenges like the devastating flood hit the country soon after it took charge of the office, he added.

The prime minister was speaking as the chief guest at an inaugural and ground breaking ceremony of eight development projects in energy and communication sectors. “We faced the devastating flood on one side, and inflation, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) pressure, and political crisis on the other. Such challenging problems have never been faced by me in my whole life,” he said.

He said all the coalition government parties had unanimously decided to ensure economic stability at all costs, including their politics. Such a resolve on their part helped the government to bring the country out of crisis. There was record wheat production in a decade, which saved billions of dollars. However, PTI Chairman Imran Niazi exploited his own created situation which he used for political gains at the country’s cost, he added.

The prime minister said political opponents had wished for the country’s default, which by the blessings of the Almighty reverted due to the efforts of incumbent government. He said had the former regimes fully utilized the country’s rich resources such as hydro power the country might have affordable and clean energy, and stressed to overhaul the faulty power transmission system causing over Rs 400 billion annual losses to the national exchequer.

PM Shehbaz vowed to break the begging bowl by curtailing the government expenses. A comprehensive plan of the Pakistan Green Initiative had been undertaken to take the country to new heights of development and prosperity.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that maximum financial and professional support to the youth was inevitable to exploit their immense potential in information technology which could also guarantee the county’s prosperity. The prime minister, addressing the launching ceremony of PM’s Freelancer and Venture Capital Initiative, and National Innovation Award Investor Connect, said the network of incubation centers needed to be spread across the country by carving out maximum funding keeping in view the country’s future.

He said considering the talent and importance of the IT, Rs 2 billion allocated for the venture capital was just “peanuts”, though it was scraped by the government despite financial constraints.

The prime minister was “taken aback” as he visited the stalls and was briefed about the innovative projects prepared by the youngsters, including drones for agriculture purposes, IT-led medical systems, and usage of banana peels for different products.

“I really salute all of you,” he remarked and particularly lauded Sahar Munir, a girl from Naushki for her vision and ideas to promote the IT sector. He said the network of incubation centres should have been spread countrywide some 10 years ago and recalled the establishment of such a center at the Arfa Karim Tower in 2009 by him while being the Punjab chief minister.

“This is the untapped talent across Pakistan which we have to own. This is our responsibility to arrange trainings and provide maximum funding,” he said and called for holding similar innovation award ceremonies in other parts of the country. He said the funding for the IT endowment fund should be increased by billions annually to capacitate the youngsters, and support their research and development.

Prime Minister Shehbaz, who earlier launched the initiatives and gave away awards among top 10 winners of the second round National Innovation Award, also instructed the formulation of a coordinated mechanism and a policy framework for the IT sector for onward cabinet approval so that the interim government could carry the projects forward without any impediment.

He said the whatsoever party forms the next government, they should facilitate the IT sector, which, if supported for next five years, could bring in billions of dollars to the country.