Speakers at a gathering on Tuesday said Finland’s political and social innovations could be a lesson for Pakistan to become a welfare state based on equality.
They were speaking at a launching ceremony of “100 Innovations of Finland” translated by Finish-Pakistani Muhammad Arshad Farooq, an immigration councilor, organised by National Language Authority (NLA).
Arshad Farooq said Pakistan can learn a lot of from the social and political innovations of Finland in different fields of life. He saw Finland’s single parliamentary political system as a role model for Pakistan, suggesting, “We can use the money, which is being spent in different levels of parliamentary system in our country, to provide books and lunch to the school-going children and reforms in medical services.” The book comprised 108 essays written by experts of different walks of life focusing on political, social, educational, economic, cultural and technological advancement in Finland. Iftikhar Arif, a well-known poet and intellectual, said he read a lot of travel stories on Norway and Sweden. Probably, this would be a first book on Finland.” The editor of the book, Dr Ilkka Taiple, said like any other country technical innovations overlapped economic issues in Finland. “More than four percent of GDP is being used for research and development of the country. The book provides a serious and entertaining look of the innovation of the country,” he said. NLA Chairman Dr Anwar Ahmed said Arshad’s work should be considered an addition in Urdu literature.
