“Space technology has become a centerpiece as every sector, whether education, agriculture, health, or climate change, is linked with it,” said Minister.
The Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives stated on Monday that the role of space technology in a country’s socioeconomic development was unavoidable and that Pakistan needed to achieve a lot to compete with the rest of the world.
He made these remarks today at a seminar titled “Role of Space Technologies in Pakistan’s Sustainable Socio-Economic Development,” which was co-hosted by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives.
The seminar was attended by the secretary of the Planning Commission, the chief economist, the chairman of SUPARCO, and officials from the ministries and divisions.
“Space technology has become a centrepiece as every sector, whether education, agriculture, health, or climate change, is linked with it,” said the minister, while addressing the participants of the seminar.
The minister went on to say that while huge transformational changes were taking place in various fields, particularly robotics and biotechnology, space technology played a critical role and Pakistan needed to accelerate its efforts to compete with the rest of the world.
The minister also highlighted several development projects in which space technology played a critical role in lowering project costs.
Due to political instability in the country, Pakistan could not achieve such targets that other countries had achieved due to policy continuity, said the minister, while emphasising the importance of the SUPARCO information being shared with the ministries and divisions.
Meanwhile, Secretary Ministry of Planning Commission Syed Zafar Ali Shah stated in his remarks that space technology played an important role in the country’s development and that it had been included in the SDGs to achieve the desired results.
“The ministry always takes the initiative to bring advanced technology, and the Geo-Spatial Technology Cell was one example that was recently established at the Planning Ministry,” he added.
He also stated that this technology aided the government in the recent floods, specifically in the Post-Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA).
According to him, space technology has played a critical role in confronting numerous challenges in the fields of climate change, resource monitoring, disaster management, and health and education mitigation.