KARACHI, Feb 7: Engineers should take initiatives and play a proactive role in the development process as this will help our industries expand and would lead us to attainment of self- reliance in many fields.

This was stated by member power, Wapda, and a former chairman of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Javed Akhtar, at the inaugural session of a symposium organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Pakistan on Friday.

He said there was no dearth of professionals in the country, but foreign consultants and advisers had been engaged in many projects. He asked the engineers to make their voice heard and come up with proper solutions to their problems.

“Our engineers are fully capable of undertaking the task of national development and the projects undertaken with local expertise would cost much low.”

Mr Akhtar stressed that concerted efforts should be made to give a boost to the country’s exports. He pointed out that the WTO regime would create a lot of opportunities for us.

In his welcome address, the chairman of the IEEP, Karachi centre, Syed Khurshid Pervez, said that the organization had been very active for the past two decades, by organizing its traditional annual multi-topic symposium.

However, he pointed out that for the last three years it had been impossible for organizing such a programme due to a downturn in the industries.

The IEEP chief was of the view that the engineering community needed special attention and that electrical and electronics professionals should join hands and share their experiences more often.—APP