Business leaders urged to play due role in country’s development
ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT ONLINE):Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday urged upon the business leaders to play their due role in economic development of the country.
“We as leaders have responsibility to become ambassadors of Pakistan and show spirit to take the country to new heights and to bring it among the top 25 economies of the world as visioned by the government in 2014,” he said while addressing the 2nd “Leaders in Islamabad” Business Summit here today.
The event was organized by Martin Dow in collaboration with Nutshell Forum and Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms and was attended by business delegations from China, GCC and other regional countries.
The two- day Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit is Pakistan’s most prestigious and well-attended business summit, which features 20 international speakers including distinguished professors from Ivy League Universities and global CEOs.
The theme for this year’s summit was “Disrupting the Future” where innovators, leaders and future thinkers will come together to present their ideas.
Ahsan Iqbal said technology was developing at very fast pace that has changed the mode of business as new ideas and innovation were emerging every day.
He said the current government, since the time it took over, had managed to bring the country’s economy on track and and had reshaped the course of national economy as promised in 2013.
Ahsan said average growth of national economy remained 4.85 percent during the last five years as compared to 3 per cent growth rate during tenure of the previous government, and Pakistan become the fifth fastest emerging country among comity of the nations.
The minister said the country also witnessed tremendous progress in the energy sector and succeeded in breaking the backbone of terrorism, which had been affecting the national economy.
The minister said that heavy investment had also been made in the country’s infrastructure, energy and industrial sectors under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which would result in giving boost to the national economy.
“CPEC is at initial stage and still its benefits are being felt across the country as far flung areas of the country are being connected with the big cities through construction of 1650 kilometers motorways besides numerous employment and entrepreneurship opportunities are also surfacing,” he said adding after completion of the mega project in 2030, Pakistan would become hub of regional trade, business and manufacturing.
He said for the first time in country’s history, the government had made it possible to utilize the precious Thar coal and by the end of current year, the local coal would start producing electricity which would continue to produce electricity for next 400 years as the coal reserves in Tharparkar had energy equal to that of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas reserves.
The minister said, the current government had fulfilled the promise it made during 2013 elections and Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), a multinational professional services network headquartered in London had also forecast that if current pace of development continued in Pakistan, it would be included in top 20 economies of the world by 2030.
Meanwhile Governor Sindh, Muhammad Zubair in a panel discussion said that in 2008, Pakistan’s economy collapsed mainly due to inconsistency of policies.
Now, he said the second democratic government was completing its five year tenure which would be helpful in consistency of the economic policies and ultimately would give boom to sustainable economic growth.
To a question, he said in next general elections people would have choice to vote for either of three major parties which are now ruling in three different provinces and they will vote on the performance of the parties in their respective provinces.
Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman said during the current government’s tenure information technology sector had witnessed a tremendous development.
She informed that the IT exports from the country increased from $200 million five years back to over $3 billion now and it will further increase to $10 billion by 2020.
Chairman Board of Investment Naeem Zamindar said Pakistan had great potential to grow due to huge market potential.
Chairman, Martin Dow Group stated “The Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit is a great platform to discuss and share innovative ideas and help delegates further expand their business models. Martin Dow was the co-host for the Pakistan Breakfast at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2018 and the outcome of interacting with the world’s best is simply an unmatched experience”.
He said the Summit is built on a similar ideology where top leaders and thinkers spend 2 days to unleash and share inspirational and spectacular experiences which would go a long way in improving the future of business in Pakistan.