Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chengez Khan Jamali has said that allocation for science and technology sector is being increased in the upcoming budget to help the country join the club of technologically advanced nations. He stated this at the First Technology Exhibition and Seminar on Research and Development in Food and Agriculture Sector.
He said that innovation is key to economic competitiveness, and research institutions and researchers would have to come forward to address the gaps in the current scenario by developing world class technologies. He regretted that the low allocations for the vital sectors like science and technology had kept the country dependent on developed world despite the fact that the country has no dearth of resources.
Jamali said that Science and Technology exhibitions provide a marketplace to showcase technological innovation in the field of Science and Technology, products, projects, services and solutions in different industrial sectors. These exhibitions enable the industrial experts and researchers from across the country to identify joint objectives, activities and initiatives and to place focus on industrial Science and Technology related problems and their solutions as well as promote S&T partnerships for global sustainable development.
He said that Pakistan is an agricultural country and its economy is mainly agrarian. It is the biggest sector of the economy and earns major national income from it. Pakistan like many developing countries of the world is facing the problem of low agricultural productivity in spite of the fact that the country is blessed with a galaxy of climate, soil condition and irrigation water.
The country is totally dependent on agriculture for the supply of food and fiber. Thus, it is imperative to increase food and fibre production to cope not only with the ever-growing requirements of the country, but for the sake of earning foreign exchange and to attain self-sufficiency. "Rapid agricultural growth can stimulate and thus sustain the pace of industrial growth, thus setting into motion a mutually reinforcing process of sustained economic growth," he added.
The Minister said that the problems of growing population, urbanisation, lack of resources to deal with pre and post harvest losses in food and problems of environmental and food hygiene mean that food systems continue to be stressed, adversely affecting quality and safety of food supplies and people are therefore exposed to a wide range of potential food quality and safety risks.
He said that applied technology in the food industry has transformed the economic and cultural structure of the developed countries. Major changes have been made in the systems of food production, processing, distribution and consumption. Applications of science and technology within the food system have allowed production of food in adequate quantities to meet the needs of society. Scientific and technological advancements must be accelerated in order to feed growing population, he added.
LCCI Senior Vice President Mohammad Arshad said that an immediate shift to R&D in Food & Agriculture sectors will not only bring prosperity at wider scope but would also open up new avenues to get out of traditional ways of managing economic affairs. He said that research was critical to taking a strategic approach to planning or economic growth and improved productivity. "It is only through economic growth and improved productivity that we could create employment opportunity."
He said that the economies which were far behind Pakistan in the 1960s have surged far ahead in most economic and social indicators on the basis of research. And only due to unavailability of authentic data on many counts Pakistan could not realise its true potential. He said the country needs to allocate more funds for Research and Development to achieve the desired results.
Chairman of Pakistan Science Foundation Dr Manzoor H Soomro and CEO Institute of Research Promotion (IRP) Abid H K Shirwani threw light on importance of research and gave a detailed briefing on ongoing research projects while Director of Rice Institute Dr Akhtar, Dr Farid A Malik, Dr Mubarak Ali, Asif Sharif, Dr Kausar Abdullah, Regional Director NIP Mohsin Syed, and LCCI Executive Committee Member Dr Shahid Raza also spoke on the occasion. Meanwhile, the Minister and LCCI Senior Vice President Arshad jointly inaugurated the First Technology Exhibition.