Rs One billion Technology fund launched to turn 7,000 Ph.Ds into entrepreneurs: Ahsan Iqbal

Lahore:  Prof Ahsan Iqbal said, “Government has launched Rs one billion Technology Research and Innovation Fund to turn 7,000 Ph.Ds into entrepreneurs. Technology, Research and Innovation are building blocks of our strategy to transform Pakistan into a Knowledge Economy.” He made these remarks while inaugurating Fourth Competitive Research Grant Conference to finalize research projects supported by Pakistan Support Strategy Programme of USAID.

He said, “We are today suffering because there was no development framework in the past to set direction and priorities for investments in public and private sector. As a result billions of dollars were invested in the past but failed to give us fruits of development. We are facing serious energy and poverty challenges.

PML-N government has developed Vision 2025 and five year plan frameworks to serve as a road map for higher growth and accelerated development. Our aim is to cross $150 billion threshold in exports to put Pakistan on world map as leading export country and making Made in Pakistan a brand of quality.”

He said, “In order to achieve accelerated growth we must ensure stability and continuity in policies without which even the best of plans shall fail. We have turned the tide of downward slide into hope and growth. Consolidating and building on these gains will set strong foundations for future growth. Government believes that the country can achieve development goals through collaborative governance. A partnership of government, private sector and academia is a winning combination. We are seeking to empower our researchers by promoting academia and industry link to align our knowledge platform with production platform.”

He said, “Researchers have a great responsibility to provide knowledge for evidence based policy making. The resources spent on research should have economic return and produce solutions to make our development strategy and plans more effective. Our goal is to produce inclusive growth which ensures balanced development of society and regions. Pakistani researchers are very gifted and our government’s approach is to eliminate knowing doing gap by putting knowledge into action.”
He thanked USAID for providing support for Pakistani researchers to provide research based solutions in development fields.