Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) & Telecom Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddique laid the foundation stone of Pakistan's first ever Centre for Genomics and Proteomics at Virtual University of Pakistan, Kala Shah Kaku, on Thursday.

He was received by the Rector, Virtual University, Naeem Tariq along with Ehsen Zafar Puri, Director ICT, VU, Dean Faculty of Science and Technology Prof Dr Masroor Ellahi Babar, Registrar Virtual University, Dr Mohsin Javaid, Director Administration VU, Ahmer Sayeed Qazi, General Manager VUTV, Babar Ali, Director Campuses, VU, Farhan Sadiq and Project Director DigiSkills Zafar Alvi.

The Federal Minister in his speech said that this ceremony is far more than just the literal foundation stone ceremony In fact it is equivalent to laying the foundation of research on a national scale from the platform of Virtual University of Pakistan. This is investment for future that is otherwise difficult to predict, and the manifestation of the efforts of Professor Dr Masroor Ellahi Babar and his team who had the vision and wisdom to foresee the needs of research in the decade to come and plan the direction of their future.

He said the Research and Development sector within industries and academia in Pakistan is very weak. Strengthening of this sector can contribute to development of skilled labor, better products and a contribution in the economy. Within life sciences, techniques have been advanced to the stage where genes are the key factors in treatment of diseases, specialized medicine, and healthcare. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to channelize our resources towards research in this segment.

Later, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui inaugurated the "Memorial Garden for APS Shuhada" in the light of Prime Minister Clean Green Pakistan initiative. A total of 250 saplings were planted including 147 saplings planted for each APS Shaheed. The daughter of the Principal of APS was the guest of honor and she planted a sapling for her mother name who embraced Shahadat in APS incident.

At the end, souvenir was awarded to the Chief Guest, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui by the Rector Naeem Tariq and Dr Masroor Ellahi Babar.