SWABI, Aug 20: The incident of the 9/11 and the WTO regime for the liberalization of international trade have transformed the global economic scenario. “To cope with the emerging challenges we have to improve our competitiveness to ensure a proportionate share for our products in the world market,” said Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Economic Affairs Dr Salman Shah, while addressing the induction ceremony of 300 undergraduate students at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology here on Saturday.

He said that to maintain the competitive edge the country needed to achieve a high level of technological advancement to cater to requirements for enhancing productivity in agriculture, industry and energy sectors.

“A nation using borrowed techniques and technologies cannot make a real progress. Therefore, we must have engineers who can apply their knowledge to the fulfilment of Pakistan’s technological requirements,” he said and added: “The world today is moving ahead at a tremendous pace. The 21st century demands high-tech engineering and only the states which acquire it will be able to get an honourable place in the comity of nations.”

He said: “To meet the emerging challenges we have to modernize the infrastructure like roads, communication, education system, agriculture and all other sectors.”

Referring to Pakistan’s economic growth, Dr Shah said that the present growth of 8.4 per cent had to be sustained for the next 10 years. To achieve the purpose “we have to increase productivity, improve the business climate and expand technological base for which the institutes like GIKI could play a pivotal role”.

He said the government was paying special attention to the higher education. There had been unprecedented budgetary allocations for the development of universities and higher education.

“Now it is the duty of educational administrators, teachers, researchers and students to make use of these resources and produce results. You (students) are the future of Pakistan,” he said and added: “The young students of today are the masters of tomorrow. The freshmen of the present will become the competent workforce of the future. The future of Pakistan, therefore, will depend on how well we train our youth.”

He said: “I will advise you to first fully discover your own inner world before exploiting the outer world. You must first explore and evaluate the inherent qualities of your own mind.

“Once you are sure of yourselves, you must strive to acquire new knowledge and skills to achieve the highest standard of excellence in disciplines of your choice.

“I have no doubt that the GIK Institute is the institution which is fully capable of producing the kind of scientists and engineers required for the 21st century. I would like it to work as catalyst for technological revolution in Pakistan.”

The rector of the institute, Dr Abdullah Sadiq, said the institute had close links to industry and national and multinational organizations. It provided, he said, consultancy services, organized industrial modular courses and carried out research and development for and in collaboration with 17 national and 15 international organizations.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf, he said, who is the Chancellor of the institute, directed the federal government that the debt retirement liabilities of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Pakistan (SOPREST) should be picked up by the government.