‘Govt striving to convert youths into economic force’

Special Adviser to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar said on Saturday that socioeconomic development of youths was one of the top priorities of the government as their wellbeing would ensure progress and prosperity of the country.

He expressed these views in a news conference at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Provincial Minister for Special Education Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq, LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Senior Vice-President Ali Hussam Asghar, Vice-President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad and Engineering Development Board Chairman Almas Hyder also spoke on the occasion.

LCCI Executive Committee members and Sialkot Chamber President Ashraf Malik were also present. An exhibition titled ''Shops on the wheels'' was also organised under public-private partnership. The special adviser to prime minister said that Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world.

Currently, it has the largest population of young people ever recorded in the national history. Sixty-four per cent of Pakistanis are below the age of 30, and 29 per cent are aged between 15-29 years. He said that the youths between 15-29 years of age make up 41.6 per cent of Pakistan’s total labour force.

Four million Pakistani youths attain working age every year. He said that to accommodate this populace in the job market, Pakistan needs to create 4.5 million new jobs over the next five years (0.9 million jobs annually). He said that under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the federal government was making an all-out effort to convert the youths into an economic force for the country.

He said that huge investment was being made on the youths to capitalise the immense potential of the country. Usman Dar said that the first-ever comprehensive National Youth Development Framework (NYDF) had been developed to ensure quality education, gainful employment and meaningful engagement of youths in economic activities. The special adviser to PM said that Kamyab Jawan programme is aimed at polishing the skills and abilities of the youths so that they could emerge as job providers and economy boosters instead of job seekers.

LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that energetic youths were an asset to Pakistan that should be used for economic development of the country. “We have to make strong foundation today for a bright future,” he said and added that it was necessary to ensure opportunities for the youths of Pakistan to allow them to work as driving force for economic progress and prosperity of the country. He added that majority of young people go abroad to find out good employment opportunities and this brain-drain was a great economic loss to the country. He mentioned that migration rate of skilled manpower had increased in the recent past and a developing country like Pakistan could not afford loss of human resource.

He said that the government should address the issues on priority which were forcing human resource to migrate to other countries. He also called for strong industry-academia linkage, saying that it would help produce suitable human resource for the industry.