President General Pervez Musharraf has said the promotion of science and technology (S&T) and human resource development has been strategised for the fast-paced progress of the country.
He was addressing the Students Convention 2006, organised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) here on Saturday. Musharraf said six world class universities of science and technology would be established in the country with the assistance of renowned institutions of higher learning from Europe, Japan and Korea.
He said these institutions of higher learning will have linkages with the industry aimed at harmonising the higher education and industrial growth. These institutions of excellence would greatly help in robust industrial growth and start yielding results in 10 to 15 years, he added.
The President said an Information Technology University would be set up in Abbottabad and the land has already been allocated to he Higher Education Commission in this regard.
He referred to the phenomenal increase in the educational sector budget, and said that Rs 22 billion has been allocated for the promotion of primary, secondary and higher education, and would have enormous impact in enhancing the literacy level which currently stands among the lowest in the world.
The President said 265 PhDs have returned from the United States to take part in the development of the country in various spheres. Musharraf said the government is fully focused on providing quality education in the less developed parts of the country which were neglected in the past, adding a new university would be set up in Multan for the benefit of the southern Punjab which lags behind in quality educational situation.
Answering to various questions, raised by students, the President said we have to achieve gender empowerment through step by step approach as it would be an evolutionary process.
He said political and economic empowerment which is a way forward for the women, adding over 30,000 women are holding positions of power at various tiers of the government, including the Senate, the National Assembly and the local governments.
Referring to several mega development projects being undertaken in Balochistan, Musharraf said Rs 125 billion is being spent on various scheme, including highways for the fast pace progress of the province.
He said Rs 100 million each for all the districts of the province has been allocated for the socio-economic uplift of the people at the grassroots level.
He said a strategy has been finalised for the overall progress of the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Rs 10 billion would be spent on its various development projects per annum.
Regarding construction of new water reservoirs, Musharraf said to meet country's growing energy needs for sustained socio-economic progress, new dams will be built. This would also help in increased flow downstream water for the benefit of tail-end growers, especially in Sindh, he added.
About the reconstruction of the quake-ravaged areas in NWFP and Azad Kashmir, the President said the government would rebuild houses and infrastructure on modern lines.
He said over Rs 25 billion has been disbursed among the quake survivors and efforts of Pakistan in dealing with the natural calamity of massive magnitude have been praised by the international community as a text book example.
The United Nations has also appreciated the handling of the earthquake tragedy by the government, the nation, the armed forces and the NGOs, he added.
On country's status in the comity of nations, the President said Pakistan has created a respectable place in the comity of nations as a leading country of the Ummah. He said Muslim states look upon Pakistan to provide leadership in these challenging times on the world stage.
Musharraf, however, stressed the need for removing misperceptions about Pakistan being an extremist stand in tolerance society. He said that in today interdependent world, no country enjoys complete sovereignty. He said greater interaction in trade and commerce with the world community would greatly help Pakistan to move on the path of economic growth.
The President exhorted the youth to have complete faith in the country and be proud of it and discard any pessimism, saying: "We must instil right in ourselves being Pakistanis and take the country, which has immense resources and talent, forward on the road to progress and prosperity."
The President also gave away the prizes, shields and certificates to the students who excelled in various debates.
The President renewed Pakistan's unswerving commitment to fighting off extremism and terrorism through a holistic strategy and emphasised that menaces will have no place in the country.
"We have to fight both extremism and terrorism as they retard progress - there is going to be no room for the menaces in Pakistan's future," he declared.
The President told the nation-wide gathering of students and faculty that incidents like bomb blast in Nishtar Park, Karachi, impacted the image of the country and portray the Pakistani people as divided into sects. He urged students to extend their support to efforts aimed at containing and curbing extremism.
"You must lend support to efforts aimed at curbing extremism - we must stop those misusing loudspeakers at places of worship and check those who spread hate material," he said.