ICCI for focusing on cities development to accelerate economic growth

Islamabad: The Prime Institute, an economic think tank, in collaboration with Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry organized a multi-stakeholder consultative session at ICCI for preparing a draft Economic Vision State of Islamabad. Representatives of business community, multilaterals, academia, UN Habitat Pakistan and civil society attended the session.
Addressing the session, Ahmed Hassan Moughal, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Islamabad has great potential for economic growth as it possessed many endowments including 22 universities/degree awarding institutes, young population, significant pool of IT professionals and government should cooperate in realizing its full potential for generating more business and economic activities in the region.
He said that half of world’s population was now living in cities generating more than 80 percent of global GDP while 600 major cities of the world were poised to account for about 60 percent of worldwide GDP by 2025. He said it was high time that government should pay more attention to the better development of major cities including Islamabad and focus on improving their infrastructure that would help in creating more jobs and generating lot of economic activities. He lauded the initiative of PRIME Institute for organizing multi-stakeholder consultations to develop a draft Economic Vision Statement of Islamabad and hoped that it would help in developing Islamabad on modern lines.