Pakistan Focusing on Innovation and Competitiveness for Long-Term Economic Development
Lyon, France: Minister of State for Finance and Chairman of the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), Mr. Omar Ayub Khan, presented Pakistan’s vision for economic development and its role as a catalyst in the region.
Speaking at the concluding session of the 9th annual conference of the World Competitiveness Institute (TCI), organized in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Lyon, he announced an 8.4 % increase in Pakistan’s GDP over the previous year. This has produced a dynamic effect on the economic development of the country, creating new opportunities for employment and the elimination of poverty.
He said that private sector in Pakistan has been given incentives targeting economic growth and the people increasingly trust the future planning and projects of the Government.
Minister Khan said that the CSF has been established as a joint venture between the Government of Pakistan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to address the economic competitiveness issues of the economy.
Speaking as the keynote speaker on the occasion, the minister briefed the audience about the economic development policies initiated by President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. “We are committed to improving the economic competitiveness of Pakistan through innovation and competitiveness”, the minister announced.
State Minister, Mr. Khan, who was representing a delegation from Pakistan consisting of professionals from the public as well as the private sector, said that Pakistan's speeding economic development has increased its energy requirements, and to fulfill these, four mega-dams, including the Kalabagh Dam, would be constructed during the next ten years. Together they are expected to produce up to 4000 MWs of electricity and would earn the exchequer a revenue of US$ 4 billion annually. This has created immense potential in this sector.
Minister Ayub added, “After 2000, a stable and persistent economic policy has yielded positive results. For example, during the past four years, 10 textile projects have invested about US$ 5 billion, the livestock industry is being upgraded and 4% of GDP is to be spent on health and education.”
He continued by noting that the overall economic weightings have swelled to US$125 billion in the latest fiscal year, compared to US$62billion six years ago.
The Pakistan competitiveness delegation participated in the other sessions of the conference as well, including the potential of biotechnology clusters in Pakistan, governance and a session innovation journalism.
The conference was attended by more than 500 experts from various sectors. Members and new participants joined together to share ideas, build alliances and explore the best modes of economic development. Additionally information was offered about specific clusters, introductory courses on cluster theory and presentations were given by an array of world experts.
Mr. Omar Ayub Khan also met Ms. Elisqbeth THION, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lyon. to promote French investment into Pakistan.
Lyon Chamber is organizing the 2nd International Business Convention between Europe and Asia for the promotion of business cooperation on transportation, environmental technologies and chemical sector as well as medical and healthcare equipment and biotechnologies. The participating countries for the event are China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain.
Ms. Elisqbeth THION, Vice President has agreed to include Pakistan as well in the list of the selected countries. The conference is scheduled to take place between 2 -4 April 2007 in Lyon, France.
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