HARIPUR: Prime Minister Imran Khan travelled to Haripur to inaugurate the Pakistan Digital City-Special Technology Zone (STZ) project, at Pak-Austria Institute of Applied Sciences at Mang. The digital city project spread over 86 kanals along Khanpur Road would be completed at a cost of Rs1.31bn.

In his speech at the inaugural ceremony, PM Khan said his government was investing in quality education, as the youth was a big resource and it would benefit society and the country.

The STZ was Pakistan’s first state-of-the-art IT-based project that would facilitate collaborations among the academia, researchers and the industry from within the country and abroad. Industries in the electronics sector, software houses, mobile phone, technology incubators, and computer manufacturing would be beneficiaries of the project.

Also sharing the success story of record tax collection by the Federal Board of Revenue for the current fiscal year, the prime minister said the revenue earned through expanded tax collection would be spent on further improvement of education and health system.

The KP CM, federal and provincial ministers as well as lawmakers representing the area also attended the event.

The PM said that investment in quality education was imperative for producing productive manpower, but the three-tier education system introduced in the country left negative impact on the Pakistani society. “Nations are developed on the basis of common ideology. When there are three different ideologies working at the same time, cohesion in the education system and society cannot be achieved,” Mr Khan said.

The PTI government ventured to introduce a single curriculum across the country for the first time, he said, adding that most educational institutions and universities were not able to meet the changing requirements of the country’s job market. It was for this reason, he said, the ‘educated’ youth remained jobless. Even those holding PhD degrees were seen protesting for employment, he remarked.

The country was facing the challenge of unemployment due to shortage of ‘skilled manpower’, Mr Khan observed, mentioning that his government was focusing on providing ‘quality education’ to help future generations. Time would prove that digital projects such as the STZ would have far-reaching positive impact on the prosperity index of the country, he said.

During last one year only, the Pakistan’s IT-based export recorded 45pc growth rate, he said, adding that the government hoped that it would further increase to 75pc.