Daily Times

LAHORE: Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that innovation has become the basic currency of Pakistan and the country can’t make progress without new innovations.

The minister made these remarks while addressing the 6th Invention to Innovation Summit organised by Punjab University Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, Pakistan Science Academy, Institute for Research Promotion and others at Al Raazi Hall on Wednesday.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasar, Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashraf, researchers, scientists, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.

The minister said that the incumbent government was tapping Pakistan’s geostrategic potential for economic cooperation and not for the power game. He said that Pakistan, which was previously known for terrorism, was now being recognised as an emerging economy. He said that many foreign countries had expressed their interest in becoming part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He said that Gwadar would become a model port city and a centre of trade in the region in the next 20 years.

“We must put Pakistan on the road to progress with the participation of all segments of the country. We must adopt the principal of survival of the fittest and our products and services must match international standards. We cannot match international markets unless we have strong industry-academia linkage. The research in our universities must be aligned with our industry.”

He said that productivity, quality and innovation were the three drivers of growth. He said that unprecedented investment had been made in energy sector in the last three years and 10,000MW additional electricity would be added to the national grid by 2018.

He said the world was restoring confidence in Pakistan and foreign automobile giants would set up their factories in the country in the coming future. He said that the government would produce 20,000 PhDs in the next ten years and 10,000 PhDs would be produced under the US-Pak Knowledge Corridor project in top-ranked US universities.

In his remarks, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasar said that universities, being the creators of knowledge, had to be linked with real economy to shape up true knowledge economy. “We need to provide latest technologies to add value in our raw materials and export high value products and services,” he said, adding that academia must also involve its best human resource to solve the country’s problems.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Science Academy Chairman Prof Dr Muhammad Ashraf said that PSA was striving for generating funds and it was currently executing 35 international projects. He said that modern countries were focusing on reverse engineering.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce (LCCI) Vice President Amjad Rajwana stressed the need to introduce policies and create environment to enhance country’s export volume.

PU ORIC Director Prof Dr Tahir Jamil said that the summit was a big opportunity to bridge the gap between academia and industry. He said that scientists, researchers and industrialists from all over the country would interact and benefit from each other in the summit.

Later, the minister inaugurated technology exhibition and visited all the stalls. He also took special interest in various indigenous technologies for their commercialisation.