ISLAMABAD: Planning, Development and Reform Minister Professor Dr Ahsan Iqbal has said that Pakistan is emerging as a success story in Asia due to economic reforms introduced by the government.
He held a joint meeting with senior officials of the US Department of State and the USAID at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC. Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani was also present the meeting.
The planning minister said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has placed Pakistan on global investment map. The meeting reviewed the progress in implementation of the “Pakistan-US Knowledge Corridor” envisioned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his last official visit to Washington in October. 2015.
An important element of the corridor is to work with the US educational institutions for producing 10,000 Pakistani PhDs in the next ten years from well reputed US universities in various disciplines.
Initiative to train 10,000 PhDs in next ten years at top US universities is a critical element of Vision 2025, which seeks to put Pakistan in top 25 economies of the world.
He said government has allocated funds for this project and the first phase of the project with cost of Rs 18.5 billion has been approved by ECNEC recently.
He urged the US officials to expedite the necessary formalities particularly the internal coordination between the relevant US agencies in order to facilitate the early roll out of this critical initiative for development of Pakistan’s human resource.
The US officials assured the minister that they were working with the concerned departments in order to complete the necessary homework. A visit by the relevant US officials was expected in the next few weeks to complete the formalities for early commencement of the initiative.
Upon request of the US officials, Minister Iqbal also briefed about the major projects in the domain of energy and infrastructure development under the CPEC.
Ahsan Iqbal is visiting Washington DC to attend the annual National Prayer Breakfast ceremony. A large number of prominent national and international personalities attend this event, which is also graced by the US president.
