Pakistan needs to be ‘creator’ of technology: minister

Muhammad Ali, the federal minister and adviser to the prime minister on privatisation, told the Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit that Pakistan has to become a creator of technology rather than a mere consumer of it. According to Business Recorder, he tied this goal to a population that might touch 390 million by 2050, which he described as a serious test, and called for a change in the country's growth model. Turning labour and physical infrastructure into output capacity was, in his view, the path ahead.

Ali also called for large productive firms able to compete with global enterprises, alongside a stronger education system and wider workforce participation. He said the government had scrapped the super tax after private-sector proposals, while interest rates and inflation had fallen and the currency had steadied. On PIA, he noted that part of the sale proceeds went to the state and a larger share was put into the airline's revival.

Speakers at the summit also pressed for structural reforms. Bilal Azhar Kayani, Minister of State for Finance and Railways, said better federal and provincial coordination was key and urged an end to unchecked spending followed by IMF borrowing. Dr Samuel Rizk of the IFC put the economy's potential at USD1 trillion by 2035, while noting the country remains among low-income economies.