Youth is an asset of our nation: President Mamnoon

ISLAMABAD: Describing the children and youth as an asset and future of the nation, President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday urged the country’s youth to play an effective role in the progress and prosperity of the country in the light of the teachings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

He expressed these views in an event organised in connection with the birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The event was attended by a large number of children, who paid tributes to the great leader.

The president said that owing to better policies of the present government over the last four years, the country had achieved economic progress.

He said that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was expected to grow at 6 per cent by the end of next year, and the government intended to take the GDP growth to 8 per cent during the next three to four years.

He termed the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a “wonder” of the current century, which he believed would change the fate of the entire region.

He also said that after the completion of CPEC, Pakistan would emerge as an important country in the region, while adding that leaders of various countries had expressed their desire to become part of CPEC.

Furthermore, the president said that along with Pakistan, China was also greatly benefitting from the project, while adding that China, which had to take a long route of over 10,000 kilometres for its trade, would now have the option of a shorter route of 2,500 to 3,000 kilometres.

Stressing special focus on girls’ education, he said that girls should have the liberty to get education up to the higher levels, but they should also not leave their culture, because following other cultures blindly would create long-term social problems.

“Good upbringing of girls creates positive societies, and societies create strong nations,” he remarked.

He urged the children to give special importance to information technology, while adding that, “The future will be controlled by technology and without benefitting from technology, we will not be counted among the list of developed nations.”

He called for learning lessons from the mistakes of the past and urged the nation to move forward with unity, while adding that the shortage of electricity inherited in the year 2013 had been tackled and the menace of loadshedding had been eliminated.

“If we continue to move ahead with this pace, the government will be able to export the surplus electricity by next year,” he added.

Moreover, the president urged the nation to put pressure on the people of those areas where electricity bills were not being paid, and press them to pay their bills regularly so that electricity loadshedding could be completely eliminated from the country.

He said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had all the capabilities of being a great leader and it was his truthfulness, faithfulness and sincerity that helped him in realising the dream of a separate state.

He urged the children to make Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Iqbal and other leaders of that era their ideals and contribute in the country’s progress and development by following their footsteps.

On this occasion, children from various schools presented national songs which were highly appreciated by President Mamnoon Hussain, Begum Mehmooda Mamnoon Hussain and other guests. Renowned singers Humaira Arshad, Ali Abbas and Awais Niazi also presented national songs and paid tributes to Quaid-e-Azam.