Punjab Chief Economist Dr Shujaat Ali talking to senior journalists at P&D Board office here on Thursday, said Punjab made significant progress in all aspects of the economy since the broad-based strategic thrust identification in the Vision - 2020.
He said: "This progress accrued from growth in incomes as well as the efforts of the Punjab government to provide social and welfare services to the masses." Dr Shujaat Ali said that poverty headcount in Punjab had declined by about 11.52 percent between 2002 and 2005 from 33 to 21.48 percent.
The province was poised to meet nearly all the millennium development goals (MDGs) well before the 2015 target except MMR, which would be achieved up to 2018, proclaimed in a recently released Punjab Economic Report-2007.
The report was produced within the Planning and Development Department at the Punjab Economic Research Institute with the assistance of Bureau of Statistics and a team of Pakistani consultants. The report also identified growth and development challenges that lie ahead to achieve the Vision - 2020, he dilated.
The chief economist said due to concerted government efforts and planning, while the provincial GDP at constant prices of 1999-2000 had increased from Rs 1,997,943 million in 1999-2000 to Rs 3,067,033 million In 2006-2007 (54 percent increase), a significant improvement in the enrolment rate, literacy level, and access to safe water and health services was also achieved, he said.
Dr Shujaat Ali reiterated that PE Report highlighted the driving contribution of Punjab ranging from 57 to 63 percent in almost all the sectors of the national economy especially in GDP, community and social services, wholesale and retail trade, agriculture, and industrial value-addition. Overall, Punjab contributed 58.5 percent to national GDP.
He said the Services Sector in the Province remained by far the largest sector, contributing about 54 percent to gross provincial product. The contribution of the agriculture in the GDP though declined from 31 percent in 1990-91 to 20.3 percent in 2006-07, but it was one of the major sectors of the economy only next to industry.
Structural changes in the relative contribution of different sectors suggest reliance of the economy away from agriculture. However, the agriculture in the province still employs about 44 percent of the labour force with its absorption rate one of the highest.
He told 'Punjab Economic Report' proclaimed that the Punjab government was taking several initiatives to optimise agricultural resource use particularly fertiliser and improved quality seed and promote farm mechanisation, plant protection and access to agricultural inputs especially credit.
Other potential areas to increase agriculture productivity and production included promotion of non-traditional agricultural products (eg off-season vegetables and livestock), he added. Dr Shujaat, in his especial briefing, said the Punjab government had also started several special programmes to develop the province's less developed areas with the objective of reducing regional disparities and alleviating poverty.
Special attention was being focused on Barani (rain-fed) regions of Potohar, Cholistan, and Dera Ghazi Khan. These initiatives include drought management efforts, the Barani Village Development Project, Sustainable Livelihoods in Barani Areas Project, Bahawalpur Rural Development Project and Dera Ghazi Khan Rural Development Project.
These initiatives aimed at achieving rural development through income-generating employment activities, improvements in regional infrastructure, and provision of financial support for skills development through participatory process, he pointed.