LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that the government is making all-out efforts to achieve 6pc GDP growth in the next 10 years.
He was speaking at the concluding session of the Asian Productivity Organisation’s international conference on Green Productivity 2.0 (GP 2.0), jointly organised by the Lums Energy Institute (LEI) and the National Productivity Organisation Pakistan (NPO) and Federal Ministry of Industries & Production here on Saturday.
The two-day event brought together senior government officials, industry leaders, international experts, academics, and development practitioners from 21 Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) member economies, with more than 80 foreign delegates.
He said that green productivity was not just an environmental choice as it was an economic necessity for countries like Pakistan. “By 2035, Pakistan aims to achieve over six per cent productivity-driven GDP growth, $100 billion in exports, a 30pc reduction in emissions intensity, universal climate-resilient infrastructure, 60pc clean energy, two million green and high-tech jobs and full integration into Asian green supply chains,” he explained.
The conference featured high-level plenaries, expert keynotes, and sector-focused discussions aligned with the advanced GP 2.0 framework.
Claims PML-N faced ‘harsher times’ under Imran than Musharraf
Speakers spoke on a wide range of themes, including sustainable architecture and industrial growth, energy efficiency, circular-economy innovation, energy transition, digital productivity tools, green hydrogen applications, green initiatives in the power and oil and gas sectors, efficient thin-film photovoltaics, circular plastics solutions, and collaborations across government, academia, and industry.
Presentations from experts representing Italy, Japan, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, Vietnam, Pakistan and other APO economies showcased cutting-edge research and applied solutions shaping the future of green productivity across the region.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Musadiq Malik, Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, highlighted the alignment between climate policy and productivity-led growth.
“Pakistan’s energy future depends on cleaner, smarter, and more efficient systems. Green productivity provides the pathway to strengthen energy security and national resilience,” he maintained.
Representing parliamentary leadership, Ms Shaista Pervaiz Malik, MNA and convener of the Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs, underscored that the SDG-aligned development priorities stating green productivity ensured that economic growth advances alongside environmental responsibility and social well-being.
The APO Secretariat’s perspective was presented by Mr Zainuri Juri, who commended Pakistan’s leadership on the GP agenda and said: “Pakistan, a steadfast partner of the APO, has demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing green productivity, which is exemplary across the member economies.”
Reflecting on the conference outcomes, LEI Senior Advisor Dr Fiaz Chaudhry and NPO CEO Alamgir Chaudhry highlighted the importance of collaboration in accelerating sustainable transformation.
Talk with media
Meanwhile talking to journalists, Ahsan Iqbal said that the PML-N faced more oppression during the Imran Khan’s government than Gen Musharraf’s martial law.
This is perhaps for the first time any PML-N stalwart has made a comparison of hard times faced by the party of Sharifs during the Gen Pervez Musharraf and Imran Khan’s governments and named the latter it’s “bigger tormentor.”
Before this comparison, the PML-N leaders would hold Musharraf’s era the most oppressed for the party leadership in which the Sharif family members were jailed and exiled in Saudi Arabia and PML-Q was carved out of the Sharifs’ PML-N.
“The PPP and PML-N both endured extremely harsh martial laws. We faced Gen Musharraf’s martial law. But we faced more oppression during the tenure of Imran Khan than Musharraf’s martial law,” Ahsan Iqbal claimed.
He said false cases were filed against the PML-N leaders, they were imprisoned and restrictions were placed on the media in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) tenure.
“Despite all this, we fought our political battles within the boundaries of the state,” he added.
Lambasting the PTI for campaigning for its chief’s release abroad, Iqbal said: “No political party has ever gone abroad and campaigned against Pakistan. No one has dragged Pakistan into international courts. In Pakistan, we may all have different political views, but we all belong to the same post office and that [post office] is Pakistan.”
The PML-N leader warned if PTI played with Pakistan’s national interests, “we will deal with it firmly.” He was responding to a question about Imran Khan’s sister Noreen Niazi’s interview to a news channel of India in which she warned that the people would give string reaction if anything happened to her brother in jail.
“Right now, the PTI and the politics of all ‘enemies’ of Pakistan seem to be on the same page. What is PTI’s political agenda that aligns the party with Pakistan’s hostile lobbies,” Iqbal asked and said in the United States, resolutions against Pakistan were passed at the behest of pro-India and pro-Israel lobbies and a campaign was run against the army chief when he was in the US.
“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government of the PTI instead of fulfilling its responsibilities in the province is hiding behind political narratives. It is the duty of the KP CM to sit in his province and control lawlessness and terrorism but he is almost doing nothing to combat terrorists and is staging political drama outside Adiala Jail,” he said and asked if Pakistan’s relations with the US improve, who felt the pain India or PTI? He said the PTI had crossed all limits in the politics of hatred.
“It has forgotten the boundaries defined by Pakistan’s national interests,” he said.
Earlier this week, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif renewed his demand for the accountability of those who ousted him, and later brought PTI chief Imran Khan into power.
The PML-N leadership has doubled down on its criticism of Imran Khan in the face of denial of his meetings by the government with his family, lawyers and PTI leaders for about a month that led to speculations about his health at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, where he he has been incarcerated for over two years in multiple cases.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2025
