ISLAMABAD, May 3 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal Thursday said the government gave importance to infrastructure development in its five years and the next big challenge for Pakistan was to ensure fair distribution of wealth among people.
He was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new campus of Pakistan Institute of Development
Economics (PIDE) here.
He said traditions build an institution and it was the responsibility of the faculty and students of PIDE that they should take the institution to new heights of knowledge.
Ahsan said highest amount of funds in the history of Pakistan were allocated for Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The minister said, “We have to rectify our national narrative and in this respect universities have an important role to play. Universities should not be only for disbursing degrees.”
He said PIDE has the status of a think tank in economic matters of Pakistan, adding only those countries will make progress where people will get the opportunity to create wealth which is based on the economic growth.
The minister said the government gave importance to infrastructure development to connect the country with the backward
areas.
The Mirpur Muzaffarabad Mansehra Road was included in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) so that the
backward areas of Northern Region could take benefit, he added.
He said the annual average growth rate of five percent was maintained from the year 2013 to 2018.
He said in four years, 11000 megawatts of electricity were added to the national grid while in one year, the demand of
electricity increased by 2800 megawatts.
The aim of PIDE was to undertake research that could guide Pakistan to further progress. “We have to ensure that our
resources are rightly used in line with our priorities.” The world of today is of competitiveness and required world class capabilities
and the digital revolution has created new challenges. New and revolutionary projects have started in the field of technology. “Due
to our internal contradictions, we cannot achieve political stability in the last 70 years,” he remarked.
He said South Korea increased its exports from $200 million to $600 billion while our exports stayed at $24 billion.
“Today’s Pakistan is a shining Pakistan and those talking negatively all the time will be defeated in the election,” he added.

RAWALPINDI, May 3 (APP):United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Al Zaabi Thursday called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters.
During the meeting, matters of mutual interest and UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme (UPAP) projects under execution in Pakistan were discussed, an ISPR press release said.
Later on, an MoU was also signed for continuing UPAP projects for social development in remote areas of Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, May 3 (APP):Pakistan Navy has launched “Pakistan Navy – Mangroves Plantation Campaign 2018” in line with the government’s vision of “Green Pakistan”.
It is the third campaign of this series which entails an effort to plant about two million mangroves in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces during next one year.
Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi was the chief guest and inaugurated Pakistan Navy Mangroves Plantation Campaign at Shah Bandar, a message received here Thursday said.
It said that mangroves were vital for coastal ecosystem, prevention of sea intrusion and sustaining marine life while these gifts of nature were diminishing in the face of economic development and demands for domestic needs. Pakistan Navy (PN) being a major stakeholder of the maritime domain realized the importance of mangroves for marine life and took a major initiative to revive Mangrove forests all along the coast. Apart from mangroves plantation, Pakistan Navy had also launched maritime economy awareness campaign, it added.
Addressing the ceremony, chief of the naval staff stressed that deforestation of mangroves had not only affected biodiversity of our coastal areas but also livelihoods of coastal communities. This situation essentially necessitates focused attention and coordinated efforts from all walks of the society.
In this context Pakistan Navy – Mangroves Plantation Campaign is an initiative to plant additional mangroves as well as to create awareness among the masses about the significance of mangroves to support the nature. He highlighted that since 2016, PN has planted more than two million mangroves along the coast from Shah Bandar to Jiwani.
He urged all stakeholders including federal and provincial departments and civil society to play their due role and join hands with Pakistan Navy in noble cause of protecting marine ecology.
Speaking on the occasion, Country Head of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mahmood Akhtar Cheema said the role of Pakistan Navy in plantation of mangroves forests is unprecedented.
Later, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi visited forward bases of Pakistan Navy in creek areas and interacted with the officers and men.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a large number of senior military and civil officials including federal and provincial parliamentarians, representatives from business community, World Wildlife Fund, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), fishery folk society and officials from Forest Department, Sindh.

ISLAMABAD, May 3 (APP):Islamabad International Airport (IIA) Thursday became operational with the departure and arrival of international and domestic flights.
“By the grace of Allah Almighty, the state-of-the-art IIA has become fully operation today. Several flights departed and arrived at the new airport today as scheduled,” Director General of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Usaid-ur-Rehman told APP.
He expressed the hope that the IIA would give boost to aviation industry in the country. He said the airport was equipped with modern technologies and could be compared with world’s best airports.
“We’ve installed top of the line and state-of-the-art system at airport. Its passenger facilitation, baggage handling and traffic management matches international standards” he said.
He said the annual turnover of passengers at the old airport (Benazir Bhutto International Airport) was about 4.5 million but the IIA could accommodate over nine million passengers annually.
“This is the largest airport of the country. It is equipped with modern technologies and facilities for passengers to meet the 21st century challenges. I’m sure it has all the potential to be among top 10 airports of the world,” Deputy Director General of CAA Amir Mehboob said.
He said besides serving nine million passengers the airport was capable to handle 50,000 metric tons cargo every year in its first phase. “The modular design of the airport enables the expansion to serve up to 25 million passengers every year by 2025,” he added.
Amir informed that the IIA had two runways – the one was primary while the other was secondary. The airport’s inside, he said had facilities such as taxiways including six taxi links, three rapid taxi ways and five aprons, including cargo apron.
“This airport has an integrated building management system, which has been designed to keep track and control various systems in passenger terminal building.
“The integrated aircraft stand system installed at the airport allows airport operators to monitor the use of equipment and the apron from a single source,” he said.
Director Planning and Development of CAA, Nadar Sahfi said the airport operations control centre at the IIA was ultramodern with focus on end-to-end processes of operations and bringing together three major operational areas for departing and arriving passengers, baggage and aircraft.

LAHORE, May 03 (APP):A delegation of foreign investors led by Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, Chairman of AKD Group called on Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, here Thursday.
Talking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said Pakistani economy was progressing rapidly, adding that growth rate had remained 5.75 percent during the current fiscal year. Due to solid economic policies of the government, he said, investors’ trust had been increased as Pakistan was the best market for investment and foreign investors should take full benefit of such wonderful opportunities. He said incidents of terrorism had been decreased to a great extent during the present government and peace had been restored in Karachi. He said CPEC had created tremendous opportunities and the investors should come forward to reap the benefits.
Shehbaz Sharif said a new history had been written in Pakistan by completing the energy projects in a record period of time. He maintained that three gas-based electricity generation projects had been installed and Punjab government was also setting up another 1260 megawatt gas-based plant. “We have completed projects with transparency, speed and high-quality,” he added.
Foreign investors said Pakistan was the best country with regard to investment and the emerging market was very attractive for the investors. “You have provided conducive atmosphere for investment by employing your vision and hard work,” they further said.
Provincial Ministers Rana Mashhood Ahmed, Sheikh Allauddin, Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Spokesman Punjab government Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan were present on the occasion.