Punjab Interim Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment Mian Anjum Nisar has said that strong industry-academia linkage is need of the hour.
He was speaking at a seminar on "Technology Development Fund" at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry organized by the LCCI Standing Committee on Industry-Academia Linkage and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC). LCCI Acting President Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi, Convener LCCI Standing Committee on Industry-Academia Linkage Umer Saleem and other experts spoke on the occasion.
Mian Anjum Nisar said that policies and syllabi should be revisited to make them relevant to the needs of industries. He further said that Lahore Chamber and HEC are doing well for the promotion of industry-academia linkage. He said that real and skill based knowledge can support and strengthen the economy of a country.
Nadeem Qureshi said that sustainable understanding between industries and education sector should be developed. He said that strong relations between industry and academia will ensure provision of skilled human resources and will also reduce the cost of doing business, enhance the employment opportunities and enhance the competitiveness of the industrial sectors. He emphasized the need for demand driven research work saying that it would be beneficial for both researchers and industry. He said that researchers would be able to sale their research work to the industry that would increase the industrial production.
He said the Higher Education Commission has created a fund with an aim to facilitate institutions of higher learning to serve as engines for socio-economic development of Pakistan. The objective of this fund is to finance proposals of completed interdisciplinary applied research projects for prototype development and industrial value addition for technology development. Convener LCCI Standing Committee on Industry-Academia Linkages Umer Saleem threw light on the aims and objectives of the seminar and efforts of the committee for the promotion of relations between industry and academia.