Arif Ali Shah Bukhari, Chancellor of KASBIT and Chairman of KASB Foundation, called on former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, on the sidelines of the recently held YPO-WPO Global Leadership Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, according to a press release issued here on Thursday.
Arif Bukhari apprised the German Chancellor about the successful implementation of Fata Children Scholarship Programme that was run by the KASB Foundation with the support of German Foreign Office to educate the children who were displaced because of the violence in Fata region.
Realising the importance of Pakistan, which will serve as the transit point in the new business order of the world to connect the Middle East, Afghanistan and the former Soviet bloc countries, East Asia and more importantly China with the rest of the world, Chancellor Schroeder looked forward to the timely development of infrastructure in Pakistan to meet the challenges that would have to be met for the prosperity of Pakistan in particular and the South Asian Region in general.
German Ambassador to Pakistan, Dr Michael Koch, having taken very keen interest in the running of Fata Children Scholarship Programme, was also appreciative of the KASB Foundation initiative. Arif Bukhari also met former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the sidelines of the conference. During the meeting Blair suggested that a study be conducted to evaluate the type of education that would be effectively suited for Pakistan and an urgent action be taken to implement it.
Arif Bukhari, who attended the conference as Member MENA Regional Board of YPO-WPO, revealed that in the meeting with Tony Blair geo-political issues of Pakistan also came under discussion and he explained to the former British Prime Minister that there was great potential for improvement and modernisation in Pakistan for which the way forward was through the prioritised provision of education to its masses through which the evils of illiteracy and violence would gradually be overcome.
The former British Prime Minister agreed with the viewpoints of the KASBIT Chancellor having remarked there was also an urgent need to develop direct people to people contact for which finding of right partners between Pakistan and Britain was must to achieve real and sustainable growth. He also stated that the world's growth and prosperity had always come through the private sector and that the government's work was to give the right policies and to create conducive environments for educational growth.-PR