RAWALPINDI, Mar 05 (APP): Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal, on Wednesday pledged to break away from past mistakes and focus on peaceful and stable development for Pakistan.
Speaking at a reception organized by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Iqbal emphasized the crucial role of the private sector in driving Pakistan’s economic growth.
He assured the government is committed to creating a competitive export environment, involving business chambers as expert stakeholders.
Iqbal noted that Pakistan is embarking on a new journey of rapid development, but faces a challenging global economic landscape. Unlike 30 years ago, Pakistan now needs to attract $10 billion annually. Despite increased exports, the country must adapt to changing global trade patterns.¹
He said the purpose of the ‘Uraan Pakistan’ program is to stabilize the country’s economy, increase connectivity and enhance multilateral trade. Underlining the private sector, the minister said that Pakistan’s pilot is the private sector.
He underlined that Pakistan is among the countries with the lowest tax collection in the world.
“We have to increase exports, streamline tax collection, reduce the energy prices”, he said while pointing towards key initiatives necessary for a stable economy.
Ahsan Iqbal said the government has tried to reduce the energy prices gradually for the last two years. He noted that the burden of electricity for the whole country is being borne by three companies.
“The people who pay the electricity bills have to make up for the line losses”, he said.
He urged to follow the principle of producing more with less resources. He underlined the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in economic development.
“Every productive sector is being transformed into artificial intelligence, we have to keep pace with technology”, he said and added that the government was investing in the IT sector along with the private sector.
Shedding light on government’s steps in enhancing economic connectivity, the minister said that 1000 agricultural experts were being sent to China for training of contemporary technological trends and techniques in the agriculture sector.
The minister said the government is working fast on a green energy project. He underlined the need to increase the country’s literacy rate which is 60% at present.
He said we have to educate our human resources, improve our education standards. Working on the education curriculum to improve education standards with the Ministry of Education was underway.
Ahsan Iqbal said, “Our effort is to make Pakistan a hepatitis-free country in the next three years, forty percent of our children are weak due to malnutrition.”
He informed that Pakistan’s population is likely to reach 400 million by the year 2040.
He said that the Uraan Pakistan program has been introduced to make the country’s economy stable and improved. Pakistan took its first Uraan in 1960, second in 1991 but due to political instability and interruptions in political continuity, progress was stopped.
“If Nawaz Sharif’s reforms had continued, we would have been ahead of Malaysia”, he said.
He said in 2013 we created a Vision- 2025 and if this vision had continued, we would have been among the top economies of the world by 2030, he added.
Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the PDM government’s achievements, particularly in fulfilling the conditions of the PTI government’s agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He noted that the policy rate has decreased from 23% to 12% within a year, and the stock market has shown significant growth, crossing 100,000 points. This growth has contributed to increased investor confidence in Pakistan.
Iqbal emphasized the importance of sustainability, especially regarding the new ‘Uraan Pakistan’ initiative. He also criticized individuals abroad who spread negative propaganda against the government.
Earlier, upon his arrival at the RCCI, the minister was warmly welcomed by the top brass of the chamber, under the leadership of its president Usman Shaukat.