President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday urged upon the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to base its future planning on emerging regional scenario and challenges to the country. Addressing at convocation ceremony of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science (PIEAS) here, the President said apart from defence consideration, the planning should also take into account the economic aspects.
The President said new opportunities and challenges would emerge with the implementation of CPEC, which was a flagship project of China's One Belt One Road initiative. He said apart from increased connectivity, setting up of industrial parks would generate employment and create opportunities for strengthening of national economy.
The President called the need for taking advantage of these opportunities through proper human resource development. He expressed satisfaction that PIEAS was contributing immensely in production of highly qualified manpower for different disciplines of science, engineering and health.
President Mamnoon also pointed out that with industrialisation, the demand for electricity would increase that needed concerted efforts to meet the challenge. He expressed satisfaction that PAEC also had plans to generate 9,000MW of electricity. The President emphasized on promoting national development and achieve prosperity by achieving self-reliance in education and research.
He said the nation was proud that Atomic Energy Commission contributed to the national cause despite paucity of resources. He said students graduating from PIEAS were rendering great services in the fields of defence, science and technology, agriculture and health.
The President also gave away gold medals and merit certificates to the position holders. He felicitated them on the completion of their education and wished them success in their professional careers. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Naeem Ahmad highlighted the contributions made by the PAEC in power generation, agriculture sector and cancer treatment.
Naeem Ahmad said that Chasma I, II, III and IV were contributing electricity to the system while agreement had also been signed for Chashma-5 which would add eleven hundred megawatt of electricity by 2024. The PAEC chairman said that work on two nuclear power plants was in progress, with each plant to generate 1,100 megawatt of electricity.
He said more areas were being identified for installation of nuclear power plants under full security measures. He mentioned that PAEC had introduced 98 varieties of different important crops to ensure food security besides establishing cancer hospitals in big cities.