The economics department of the GC University Lahore here on Friday organised a special lecture presentation of Dr Idress Khawaja of the Air University, Islamabad in the PG seminar room of the university. Addressing the participants, he said that a competitive environment was pre-requisite for innovation.
Talking about the 1960s era in Pakistan, Dr Idress said that it was the age of import substituting industrialisation while 1970s was the era of public sector: Inimical to innovation by default. He quoted Dr Ishrat Hussain who said that in 1950s, there was high tariffs and quantitative restrictions on imports conferred windfall gains on small group of licenses. He also described the rent seeking-environment in Pakistan.
The Vice Chancellor GCU Lahore Professor Dr Khalid Aftab commended the fine lecture presentation of the guest speaker and appreciated the economics department of the varsity for holding lecture presentations of the prominent economists and educationists at the campus round the year.
He also urged Dr Idress to be more interactive with the entrepreneurs and business community to address their reservations and to generate knowledgeable activities in the realm of economics. Dean Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of GCU Professor Dr Khalid Pervaiz thanked the guest speaker for his sparing time to address the audience of the GCU economics department. Chairperson department of Economics of GCU Professor Sheikh Sallah ud din and large number of students of the varsity were also present on the occasion.