ISLAMABAD, March 27: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that the government was focussing on human resource development which was essential to achieve success in research and technology advancement.

He was addressing a meeting of three Nobel laureates with Pakistani students and young scholars.

Mr Aziz said that human capital was the real strength of a country and the government had been taking steps for its development.

The meeting, in Islamabad from March 27 to 29 and in Lahore from 30 to 31, has been jointly organised by the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and Pakistan Science Foundation.

Nobel laureates Prof Charles H. Townes, Prof Ivar Glaever and Prof Gerardus’t Hooft will deliver lectures, participate in television programmes and visit historical places.

The prime minister observed that the present era was of information explosion and every country was competing in attaining optimum level of development in IT research and production to promote economical activities.

In Pakistan too, he said, education system had been given due importance. He said adequate budgetary allocations had been made for primary and secondary levels.

He said that in addition to allocation of funds other steps were being taken to promote science and technology, research and software development.

Referring to advancements in the software research industry, he said a lot of work was being done in Asian countries and Pakistan was not far behind. Still, he said, the country had to go a long way in this competition.