Ahsan Iqbal declares 2016 year of productivity, quality and innovation

Dated : 30 November -0001

Federal Minister Planning, Development & Reform Ahsan Iqbal declared 2016 as the year of Productivity, Quality and Innovation. He said that Pakistan needs average 7-8 percent growth rate in next ten years for sustained economic growth to create job opportunities for the growing youth population of the country. We need to maximize growth through productivity gains which is critical to attain competitive edge in the world. Vision-2025 envisages the competitive and knowledge based economy by creating conducive environment for it. Ahsan Iqbal expressed these views while speaking at 31st Annual General Meeting and Conference on “Vision-2025: Effective Strategies for Transformational Growth” organized by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. Ahsan Iqbal on this occasion provided exhaustive overview of the growth patterns followed in the past and those being executed n present regime. He maintained this is right time to shift the focus from exogenous factors to internal drivers of growth emphasizing on resource mobilization, investment and exports. The growth patterns of the past were non-participatory, which led to regional disparity and social inequality in country, resultantly we had to pay heavy cost in terms of its physical dismemberment and giving birth to socialist tendencies in the society. He noted that Vision-2025, formulated after extensive consultation with the relevant stakeholders and experts of various domains. Vision 2015 addresses all significant areas through an ecosystem aided by seven pillars and grounded on five enablers. Minister particularly laid emphasis on human resource development and informed that the present government is investing heavily in education, health and social sector to repair the fractured social platform due to the ill-conceived policies of the past regimes especially martial laws governments, which diverted the