The Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Prof. Ahsan Iqbal, gives a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform, Prof. Ahsan Iqbal, gave a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this afternoon on the role of economic diplomacy in the implementation of the government’s development agenda. The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Syed Tariq Fatemi, the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the briefing.

Extending a warm welcome to Mr.Ahsan Iqbal, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Syed Tariq Fatemi assured him that the Ministry and the Pakistan missions abroad were dedicated to implementing the Prime Minister’s instructions concerning economic diplomacy.

Mr. Ahsan Iqbal began the briefing with explaining the overall encouraging internal and external environment in Pakistan enabling its diplomats to achieve the country’s developmental targets through successful economic diplomacy. Mr. Ahsan Iqbal identified energy, indigenous resource mobilization, development of human and social capital, transition from a low value to a high value economy in agriculture and industry, modernization of infrastructure, promotion of private sector as an engine of growth, and governance and institutional reforms as the main pillars of the government’s growth strategy.

Mr. Ahsan Iqbal also highlighted the opportunities of regional economic cooperation and Pakistan’s potential as a major regional hub between the vast regions surrounding it.

Islamabad
27 February 2014

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