Imran Khan’s recent visit to China a win-win for growth and development: President Alvi

Islamabad: President Dr Arif Alvi has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to China was a win-win for growth and development.

Addressing here the 14th Convocation of Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar, President Alvi mentioned that Pakistan and China had come even closer due to the PM’s visit and participation in the inaugural ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to China is a win-win situation in terms of growth and development. The areas of agriculture, pharmaceutical, automotive, textile, and information technology offer vast scope for Pakistani students and professionals. China is cooperating in these sectors,” he added.

President Alvi maintained that Pakistan was emerging as a stable state with exponential development in various fields and advised the youth not to pay attention to the statements of despondency about the country.

He urged the universities to broaden the scope of their education systems by promoting virtual dissemination of knowledge in order to increase the number of graduates in the country.

“Besides the conventional brick-and-mortar system, our higher education system needs a paradigm shift to focus on online education as well to match the growing needs of the contemporary world,” the President stressed.

President Alvi informed that by the year 2030, the world would need 800 million graduates in the field of information technology. In this regard, he remarked, Pakistan must produce graduates capable of exploiting global opportunities.

“For Pakistan, making education common for all is the key to development. Virtual education is the only rapid way to achieve this goal,” he stated.

He referred to his already launched Presidential Initiative of Artificial Intelligence and Computing as an important step in reshaping and revolutionizing the country’s education, research, and business systems through the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.

Terming Pakistan’s youth bulge as a valuable resource for the country, he asked the graduates to explore the world by acquiring quality knowledge and the latest skills.

The President claimed that the world was reaching out to Pakistan in view of its human resource and emphasized the need to tap the opportunities as per the growing demand of the international market.

He congratulated the graduates on securing positions in their respective disciplines and urged them to keep working hard by adhering to the principles of morality, Islamic traditions, and national identity.

Minister for Higher Education, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Kamran Khan Bangash said the provincial government was promoting higher education by facilitation both public and private sectors.

He mentioned that skill development, scholarships, and setting up new educational institutes were the priority areas of the Khyber Pakhtunhaw provincial government.

Earlier, President Alvi awarded medals to the distinguished students of PhD, MS, M-Phil, Masters, Bachelors, and other associate degrees.