Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz has said that the government is formulating a National Science and Technology Innovation policy to boost the country's economic self-reliance.

Addressing an event in Islamabad on Monday, Faraz said it is unfortunate that the science and technology sector was neglected in the past and not much was done to promote it.

However, the minister said the government is now coming up with aggressive programmes aimed at promoting science and technology.

Faraz said the government's initiatives include the establishment of technology zones and startups.

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He further said that coordination will also be done among research and development institutes, industries, and academia. He stated that an effort has been made to take inputs from all the relevant stakeholders for the policy.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that short-, medium- and long-term strategy timelines should be devised for the promotion of science and information technology sectors.

He said that it is need of the hour to finalise strategy in this regard for immediate implementation.

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He mentioned that the Science and Technology Zones establishment would play a vital role in the development of the country.

The prime minister said to exploit the potential of the country’s youth, the science and technology sector's importance is critical.