Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry addresses the conference on Wednesday.—Fahim Siddiqi/White Star
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry addresses the conference on Wednesday.—Fahim Siddiqi/White Star

KARACHI: Speakers at a programme have agreed that Pakistan has the potential to be the greatest country in the region in the next decade provided it gets honest leadership.

They were speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day Future Summit here on Wednesday.

Heaping praise on Prime Minister Imran Khan, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, who was the guest of honour, said Pakistan was one of the fastest growing economies and the premier had a vision for it.

“We are narrowing the fiscal deficit. Our ports are serving landlocked countries. CPEC is the road to success. We are connecting the world [through it]. We are offering cheap labour; IT is a key potential sector; digital policy 2018 is good; and reforms are in place. Today PIA has come to break even,” he said while recounting the successes of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government.

He said Pakistan is on the rise. One wonders what stops Pakistan [from progressing when] we have gold, cotton, gas etc. Going back in time when things were worth writing home about, the governor told the gathering that in 1972-73, our airline, PIA, was the airline of the year, and Pakistan Steel Mills was one of the best in the region. Then there was a lapse. People stopped flying with PIA, and the Steel Mills became a liability –– everything that was going right for Pakistan started to go wrong. The leadership that we chose at the time was responsible for it. Pakistan was badly struck by corruption. We went through a bad phase and at that time the country was engaged in a war on terror which was not our war. But we don’t choose our neighbours. We were fighting a war for world peace. We lost 70,000 lives in that war.

Minister Fawad Chaudhry stresses the need for focusing on technology to make progress

Mr Ismail said the PM was for peace talks. “Pakistan is mediating talks between Afghanistan and the US,” he added.

‘Focus on technology’

Earlier, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry spoke to the audience in his distinct style.

He started his address in English with lines such as “The more you know us [Pakistanis] the more you love us,” and then switched to Urdu because “the media loves me”.

Like the governor, he first went down memory lane to show how progressive Pakistan was in the past. He said those who had conceived the country were visionary people. In 1951 they set up the West Pakistan Laboratories, which was later turned into PCSIR. At the time there was no institution “parallel” to it in the Muslim world. In the 1960s the PCSIR led to an industrial revolution. Pakistan was the first country in 1963-64 to realise the importance of research on water. In 1963, Pakistan sent rockets into space. We in Asia were second to the USSR to have done so. But then we lost our way.

The minister said in the 1970s our focus shifted from science and technology. In those days we wasted opportunities, for example, if we had requested the US to make in Pakistan MIT or Stanford campuses, things would have been better, but instead we kept making and supporting madressahs that harmed our education system.

Mr Chaudhry said it is clear that in the future you can’t get rid of your deficit by [selling] tomatoes and onions. “You have to focus on technology. It is a paradigm that can take our country forward.” Countries such as China, Indonesia and Singapore that gained independence with us have progressed because of science and technology, and [adding in a lighter vein he said he brought this to Imran Khan’s notice] the science and technology ministers in those countries are almost treated as deputy prime minister. So the future plan is simple. The private sector needs to lead the way because if the government leads then it will be faced with bureaucratic hurdles. He also mentioned that the government’s focus is on biotechnology.

K-Electric chairman Ikram Sehgal said in 1954 Pakistan was part of the Baghdad Pact. Today, reverse of the Baghdad Pact has happened. There is tremendous opportunity for Pakistan … the Pakistan which is part of South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia. “We are the pivot.” We are the most dynamic country in the region. We have the potential to be the greatest country in the region in the next decade provided we have honest leadership, he remarked.

Shazad Dada gave an overview of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) –– of which he is vice-president. Describing it as the oldest chamber, he painted a pretty positive picture of the economic scenario of Pakistan saying it’s a growing market and advised foreign investors, “Don’t come here with a short-term mindset.”

M. Azfar Ahsan, Ali Akhai, Iftikhar Shallwani and Ghiasuddin Khan also spoke. Amelia Yachya moderated the session which was titled ‘Reinvent the future’.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2019

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