ISLAMABAD, Jan 3 (APP): Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said that each and every project would be evaluated in line with the standards and targets, set under the ‘Uraan Pakistan’ programme to achieve sustainable economic growth before it became part of the Annual Development Plan ADP).
“Uraan Pakistan is not fiction or merely a book, but a reality, and its implementation has already begun. In the next development budget, only the projects that comply with the set growth targets will be included,” he said.
The minister made these remarks during a media briefing on the recently unveiled ‘Uraan Pakistan’ – the homegrown National Economic Plan (2024-29), a journey to a trillion-dollar economy by 2035.
Considering the scarcity of resources, he said that only projects linked with national development would be executed under the annual plans in the future, adding that the new programme had set priorities for a future journey toward progress and prosperity.
He urged all segments of society to play their due role in the journey of national economic development, offering new hope for a brighter future for the nation. “Success in the 21st century can only be achieved through economic development. Pakistan’s identity in the world is that of a hardworking and brilliant nation; it must be upheld and further consolidated.”
The minister spoke in detail about the 5Es (Exports, Equity and Empowerment, E-Pakistan, Environment & Climate Change, and Energy and Infrastructure) framework and the strategy for its successful implementation.
Commenting on ‘Exports,’ the minister said the biggest challenge Pakistan faces is directing its focus from domestic business to exports with value addition to products, achieving the target of $60 billion in exports by 2029, and eventually attaining the capability of $100 billion in the next eight years.
Under this segment of the 5Es, he said macroeconomic reforms for export-led economic growth would be implemented, alongside efforts to augment productivity, quality, and innovation for global competitiveness. The plan also includes improving the investment climate, diversifying the product mix and market access, promoting SMEs, entrepreneurship, and cluster-based development, and enhancing the national brand – Made in Pakistan.
“The key target is to achieve $60 billion in yearly exports by prioritizing IT, manufacturing, agriculture, industries, minerals, manpower, and the blue economy,” he added.
The second main intervention in the Uraan Pakistan Programme, he said, was E-Pakistan, under which capacity building would be carried out in the digital technology sector. “Every year, 2,00,000 youth will be imparted information technology training.”
The emerging technologies from the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions, he said, would be harnessed to cope with the challenges in diverse fields and transform Pakistan’s economy into a ‘techno-economy.’
Similarly, he said, under the E-Pakistan initiative, the national economy would become technology-driven by improving digital infrastructure, developing a startup and VC funding ecosystem, building training, skill-building, and freelancing capabilities, establishing an artificial intelligence framework, and enhancing cybersecurity.
On the third E – Environment (Water and Food Security), he said water security would be ensured through integrated water resource management, enhancing food safety and security through Green Revolution 2.0, adapting to climate change, strengthening disaster mitigation responses and recovery, and promoting reforestation.
“Under the Green Revolution 2.0, the modernization of the agriculture sector will be carried out, for which this year 1,000 agriculture sector graduates will be sent to China for technical training.”
Commenting on the fourth E (Energy and Infrastructure), the minister highlighted the importance of transitioning to green energy solutions, developing an efficient and affordable energy infrastructure, promoting multi-modal regional connectivity for access to Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and African markets, harnessing Pakistan’s mining potential, and driving innovative financing for infrastructure projects through a public-private partnership model.
To address the issues of expensive electricity, he said the Prime Minister had approved a comprehensive package to improve the efficiency of the power sector, ensuring the availability of affordable electricity using alternative energy resources like solar, wind, hydel, and nuclear energy.
The fifth pillar of the 5Es framework, he said, focused on reforms for quality and expanded universal access to education through curriculum improvements, teacher training, examination system reforms, and technology adoption.
Under this, he said, a comprehensive social uplift agenda had been framed to alleviate poverty and unemployment in collaboration with provinces, stressing the need to achieve a 90 per cent literacy rate, control the growing population, ensure 100 per cent primary school enrollment, and eliminate Hepatitis C and Diabetes to achieve the set goals.
