Minister says annual volume of economy to reach ‘$3trn mark soon’

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, on Monday, hoped that the annual volume of Pakistan’s economy will be $3 trillion and the country will be counted among the top 10 economies of the world.

In the current era, data-driven, knowledge economies are ruling the world, and data sets, data integration and Artificial Intelligence are significant for the sustainable economic development of any country, the minister said.

Iqbal said this, while addressing the “Data Fest 2024”, organised by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in Pakistan-China Friendship Centre, on Monday.

Chairman NADRA Lieutenant General Muhammad Munir Afsar, Federal Secretary for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Owais Manzoor Sumra, Chief Statistician PBS Naeemul Zafar and representatives of federal and provincial ministries and other stakeholders participated in the ceremony.

He further said, “Today we have entered a world that is undergoing the most rapid changes in human history and people who have seen the huge innovations and development in modern time.”

Iqbal said that in today’s world modern data science drives the economic revolution in the world, and data analytics and advanced technology have fuelled the modern economic development and digital revolution. He said that the data science is the core of artificial intelligence, and its quality is the foundation of any economic theory and development in the modern world and for that, our economy needs very reliable data.

The minister said that behind the economic development of any nation are 10 years of continuous policies, which pave the way for their development. He said that now the government is working on the next five-year plan and today when I read the Vision 2025 made in 2014, it seemed that we had written the same problems we are facing today in the country.

In 2017-18, Pakistan had overcome the issue of energy and terrorism, the country was moving fast with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), but today we are back to where we were in 2013. He said that for sustainable economic development in the country, we need continuity of policies to achieve our economic goals. “Our economy needs reliable data, with which we can measure the direction of progress.”

He said data sets are also required for business development and only the nations, businesses or individuals can use data in a better way can achieve their economic goals.

“I am happy that there are a large number of young people here today, who will determine their future through data science and youth should have the ability to use data properly. Our young generation is going to participate in an economic marathon race based on modern technology and data-driven economies,” he said.

He said, “We have presented the positive side of Pakistan to the world through the three day’s head of the government meeting of ‘Shanghai Cooperation Organization’ in Islamabad.”

He said that all economic indicators of the country are showing positive growth. The inflation rate is down at single digit and our youth have the potential to take Pakistan to a high position in the world.

While addressing the ceremony, Federal Secretary for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Owais Manzoor Sumra said that data integration, visualisation and cutting-edge technology are ways forward for the country’s sustainable economic development.

PBS Chief Statistician Naeemul Zafar said that today data science is leading every sector of the economy and in Pakistan data-driven economy must be for sustainable economic development.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024