Youth to be equipped with advanced technological skills: PM

ISLAMABAD (APP): Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to equip the country’s youth with advanced technological skills, emphasising the importance of their role in driving the nation’s development and prosperity.

He assured that all necessary resources will be allocated to provide the best training opportunities, enabling young people to become productive contributors to society.

Addressing a launching ceremony of PM Digital Youth Hub, the prime minister said that as Chief Minister Punjab, he disbursed 400,000 laptops among the students who were high achievers in their schools and colleges. “This was the vision for which he worked hard,” he remarked.

The prime minister emphasised that the youth of Pakistan were a challenge as well as a great opportunity. “If we provide training of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) led modern technology, they can contribute a lot for the development and prosperity of Pakistan.”

He said if the youth were provided with right opportunity, they could play positive role in making the country one of the leading economy of the world.

Expressing his resolve to provide the best training to the youth, he said the government will ensure all possible resources for their training by cutting down on other expenditures.

“Youth are the biggest assets of Pakistan, and we can serve this great asset by equipping them with the best state-of-the-art technologies.”

Referring to the recent staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the prime minister said through the IMF programme, the country had achieved stability, but this should be kept in mind that this was the loan ‘which we have to get rid of’.

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He hoped that this might be the last programme. The prime minister asked the youth to work hard as they could play a role in this regard.

He highlighted that during the last three weeks, the national exchequer received Rs 34 billion due to the government’s efforts to speed up the tax cases pending in the tribunals for several years.

Chairman Prime Minister Youth Programme Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan on the occasion said that the government was opening up new opportunities to empower the youth of the country.

He said through PM Digital Hub, the youth would benefit in various sectors, including sports, tourism, sports, IT, green economy and others.

United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Officer In-charge Sharmeela Rasool said this was a platform of opportunity and hope. She said this programme was aimed at making the youth stronger and more productive people in the country.

Chairman Semiconductor Group Naveed Sherwani said the private sector and public sector should put full energy into the provision of training to the youth to enable them to play a role in the development of the country.

UN Resident Coordinator Muhammad Yahya said the Digital Youth Hub was prepared to make youth capable of exploring their capabilities. This is the start of a journey of development and prosperity for Pakistan, he added.