Mr. S.M Naveed, President Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) has said that the involvement of technology leaders was a must for Pakistan to produce research-backed products in the market, for which Chinese model of indulging academics and technocrats in production facilities should be espoused in Pakistan to create more competitive products.
He expressed these views in a zoom meeting with five-member Chinese delegation from Jinan technology University China. The delegation was spearheaded by Zhang Shoufeng while other members included Zhang Xiuhong, Xiao Jing, Zhang Min and Wang Li.
During the meeting, proactive suggestions and proposals were shared in which both parties professed international cooperation as a fundamental component for learning globally recognized best practices.
Mr. Wang Li informed the delegation that from the platform of PCJCCI, they were contemplating to enter into partnerships with international technology leaders for providing opportunities to young scholars to generate fresh innovative startups. In this regard, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would help achieve Pakistan’s knowledge, economy and goals.
Additionally, Pakistan’s image internationally has to be improved so that more international partners were ready to visit and invest in Pakistan, he maintained.
Mr. Daud Ahmed, Senior Vice President PCJCCI also informed them about the plans to form specialized science and technology parks that were much needed for the digital divide between China and Pakistan. He suggested that such parks could be formed in Pakistan with the cooperation of Chinese technology universities and innovative technology leaders.
Mr. Khalid Raffique Choudhry, Vice President PCJCCI highly appreciated the idea shared by Wang Li, and said that the purpose of their visit was also to extend bilateral relations with Pakistan beyond manufacturing to knowledge sharing. He suggested that to achieve the desired goals in innovation and technology, the Pakistani government must focus on improving the quality of research being conducted in the existing universities by providing them higher resources and expanding their ambit.
Mr. Salahuddin Hanif, Secretary General PCJCCI shared his views by saying that it was observed that the number of PhDs in Pakistan had risen from 300 in 1998 to about 7000 today, but still, the knowledge platform and production platform was not synergized. It was jointly agreed that efforts should be made to outline strategic goals where fresh graduates and researchers could also contribute in value addition of the commodities being produced in Pakistan.