Human, Natural Resources Equally Essential For Socio-economic Prosperity: President Dr Arif Alvi

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said both human as well natural resources were essential for the socio-economically prosperity of a country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jan, 2023 ) :President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said both human as well natural resources were essential for the socio-economically prosperity of a country.

The president, addressing the "GB Dream Road Show" organized by the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Government, said intellect, consistency in policies, avoiding confusion, and actively cooperating with each other would enable the country to tread the path of development.

The ceremony was attended by GB Governor Syed Mehdi Shah, Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan, ministers and others.

The president said he always represented the Gilgit-Baltistan region as its ambassador for promoting its tourist attractions.

The tourists should be facilitated in the area and the biggest charm of tourism for a tourist was easy and the shortest possible access to the destination, he added.

President Alvi said the GB was rich in natural resources like minerals, gems, and fruits. He said using scientific methods for cutting and finishing gems and skills required for such work could be learned in a very short period of time.

Highlighting the importance of IT skills for the GB youth, the president said people with IT skills could earn their livelihood by offering their services in other countries while living in Pakistan through online platforms.

He said the information technology (IT) sector could also provide employment opportunities for women allowing them to work from their homes. Some 2.4 million people from different academic backgrounds had benefitted from the Prime Minister's Digital Skills programme, Digiskills, and such programmes could be replicated to provide critical and marketable digital skills to the youth and women of the country, he added.

He said a GB student who got his training from the Digiskills programme was earning almost $100,000.

President Alvi said there were enormous opportunities for the GB in the field of agriculture as well by using vertical farming and drip farming.

He said the GB could not only fulfill its own food requirements but also had the potential to export abroad like the Netherlands which was 19 times smaller than Pakistan but the second-largest food producer in the world.

President Alvi said there was an abundance of ideas but it was high time now to translate the same into practical steps and execute them.

He said indeed development was not possible without community participation and the GB people should be fully and actively engaged in promoting development in the area.

GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan said Gilgit-Baltistan had been neglected in the past in terms of resource allocation and the funds which used to be given were mostly consumed in salary-related expenses.

He said the GB government had been allocating more funds for development for the last two years.

He said his government's focus was on the development side, especially improving the road connectivity of GB with the rest of the country through different routes, revamping the education sector, boosting the agriculture sector to overcome food shortages, improving the health sector, and bringing reforms in the local government system.

The seasoned civil servant Shoaib Sultan also narrated his journey with the Agha Khan Rural Support Programme for the GB. He said he worked for 40 years for the rural support programme and it was the support of people and the community which made it successful.

Earlier, the president also visited the various stalls at the show.