ISLAMABAD: Bradford University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor Brian Cantor on Wednesday said that economic success depended on the generation and exploitation of knowledge and universities were the drivers of knowledge economies in the modern world.
The Bradford University VC, along with a delegation, visited the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and addressed an event “Universities and Economic Development” jointly organised by ICCI and the Bradford University.
The event was also attended by Quaid-e-Azam University VC Dr Muhammad Ali, Director General Directorate of Federal Education Dr Ali Ahmed Kharal and faculty members of SZABIST, Bahria University, Rifah International, NUST, FAST, International Islamic University and NUMAL were also attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Professor Brian Cantor said there were approximately 40,000 universities in the world with the world’s student population of 100 million having a budget of $1.5 trillion and 6 per cent annual growth. He said the world research market was also worth $1.5 trillion growing at 6 per cent per annum.
The Bradford University VC also said that many countries were competing to build universities to drive their economies and added that Pakistan could leapfrog its economic growth by focusing on strengthening its universities.
He said that Bradford has produced three million students, contributed to £60billion to GDP and generated 100,000 businesses. He said that Pakistan should develop a framework for promoting universities and strengthening academia-industry linkages to transform itself into a knowledge economy.
ICCI President Ahmed Hassan Moughal said that universities in Pakistan were playing a good role in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation as many of them have established ORICS. He said ICCI has signed MoUs with many local universities to promote academia-industry linkages.
Ahmed Hassan further said that industries identify their research needs that were pitched to universities to conduct research and provide solutions to improve industrial efficiency and productivity. He said ICCI would continue to promote university-industry linkages for facilitating industrial growth.
ICCI Senior Vice President Rafat Farid and Vice President Iftikhar Anwar Sethi appreciated the role of Bradford University in promoting education and research in the UK for the last over 50 years. They said that ICCI would like to develop strong collaboration with Bradford University to take advantage of its research works for the benefit of local industry.
Quaid-e-Azam University VC Dr Muhammad Ali, FDE DG Dr Ali Ahmed Kharal, Founder Group Chairman Zubair Ahmed Malik and faculty members of various universities also spoke at the occasion and stressed for the need of strong academia-industry linkages to drive Pakistan on the fast track of economic growth.
