ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The science and technology minister, Dr Attaur Rehman, on Saturday asked the SAARC countries to move forward and made this region conducive for foreign investments by offering incentives.
Opening the 3rd meeting of the reconstituted Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA) here on Saturday, the minister called upon SAARC governments to devise policies to lure the investors in such a way that instead of looking towards Malaysia, Dubai or other country he has no option but to opt for our region.
“Instead of building monuments, buildings, bridges and other infrastructure, let’s start investing in people,” the minister said, adding “We could unleash the creativity of 140 million people of Pakistan by investing in the human development.”
“We should give them scholarships, education and train them in world class institutions to tap their abilities and most of all retaining them to stay home instead of serving others by offering conducive atmosphere,” he observed. “Let’s build a knowledge-driven economy. This will be only a true poverty alleviation strategy,” the minister stressed.
He said the countries which had invested in human resources, were developing rapidly and reaping the advantages while those which ignored this important factor would lag behind the development race.
Commissioners from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are attending the meeting to finalize their recommendations to tackle the problem of poverty. These delegates also had a field trip of different cities of Pakistan to help understand different dimensions of poverty in the region.
“We need to think about a real strategy for poverty alleviation. At the foundation of this strategy lies education, which has to be of quality having international compatibility,” the minister said. “Basic literacy was also necessary but alone it was not enough like technology,” he said and added that “the example of Sri Lanka is before us which has high literacy rate, yet it could not be called a developed country.” Similarly Russia had possessed high technology and was sending satellites, yet it could not build quality motor vehicles or television and later cracked, he said.
Earlier, Q.A.M.A Rahim, the secretary-general of SAARC, said the staggering extent and severity of poverty remain to be a scourge for the entire region. “Without tackling it head on, all our development efforts will continue to be thwarted, therefore, the role of this commission and its recommendations were awaited with great expectations.”
He stressed the need for mobilizing energy and resources meaningfully translating the recommendations of the commission into concrete actions having a direct bearing on the lives of the millions of poor of the region.
“It is heartening to note that the commission recognized poverty alleviation as the over-arching goal of SAARC for which a concerted and collective action would be required,” he said.