Expeditious exchange of information through reliable linkages between chambers is imperative to survive in this age of rapid inventions and cutting-edge technologies, said Muhammad Akram Sheikh, director-general Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Centre (PASTIC).
He was addressing an online meeting between the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) and the Sargodha Chamber. He said that Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) and PASTIC were ready to play their key role in that connection. He said that PASTIC had the expertise to compute and provide much-needed information to the quarters concerned. He said that the focus of the current government was also on enhancing industrial production and exports with a special emphasis on value addition. He said that a workable relationship between different chambers was necessary and this project had been launched to encourage the development of a joint database of different trade bodies. He hoped that this project would provide an opportunity to the collaborating chambers to share their knowledge, database and experience for the benefit of each other. Muhammad Hasnain Deputy Director PASTIC Faisalabad said that this center was making continuous efforts to convince students to adopt productive science subjects for their future studies. “We are also providing necessary information to the PhD scholars for their research projects,” he said and added that due to our efforts, a large number of students had switched over from arts subjects to science subjects. He said that girls were studying science subjects and had excelled in their relevant fields. Engineer Ahmad Hassan, Chairman FCCI Standing Committee on Research and Development, said that full-throttled scientific development had posed new challenges, particularly for the developing countries to compete with the developed countries. He lamented that our industrial sector was still using obsolete versions of machinery and technologies which were neither cost-effective nor efficient. He said that we must exploit Information Technology (IT) and artificial intelligence by replacing our old with hi-tech machinery. He underlined the importance of linkages between industry-academia and chambers so that we must utilize locally produced raw material to the manufacturing of value-added products and thus help Pakistan to earn sizable foreign exchange by exporting the same. He said that FCCI was the first chamber that had launched different research projects in collaboration with the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) to develop a module to identify the wastage of electricity in industrial and commercial units. He said that by utilizing this system, we could not only cut down our cost of production but also provide surplus electricity to the new industrial units. “Similarly, it also helps the agriculture sector to save maximum energy by using energy-efficient motors,” he said and added that the major problem was our behavior as most of our industrialists were reluctant to use the new technologies. He said that we must educate, convince and continuously sensitize them to remain vigilant and start using new technologies for their own benefits. He also appreciated the efforts of Dr Habib Aslam Gaba for industrial-academia linkages and said that process should continue with the same spirit in the near future. Faisal Razak Khawaja Chairman Research and Development Committee of the Sargodha Chamber also addressed the meeting and underlined the importance of developing the linkages between regional chambers. Later Engineer Ahmad Hassan offered a vote of thanks and assured that such meetings would also be arranged with other chambers.