pm on national policies

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday launched Innovation Hub Program in Islamabad, the initiative aimed at encouraging the youth to involve in national development.

Addressing the launch ceremony, the prime minister said the government would set up special cells for talented youth in all ministries to encourage them work on their innovative ideas for national policy-making.

Being set under the Prime Minister’s vision, the Innovation Hub will play an important role in harmonizing policy making with the needs of the country by incorporating the views of all stakeholders particularly country’s talented youth and manpower.

The innovative project will receive valuable feedback from stakeholders to help the government improve and refine its national policies, said PM Shehbaz and urged the experts, intellectuals and youth to connect with the government through their suggestions.

He stressed the importance of research work to explore the potential of various subjects for the benefit of general public. “I will personally promote the Innovation Hub which would act as an effective platform for youth to excel.”

PM Sharif said the brilliant ideas of youth would be incorporated in policy-making so as to formulate them in a more practical way.

Speaking about the programme, head of PM’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi said the main objective of establishing Innovation Hub under the vision of PM Shehbaz Sharif was “putting the public back in public policy”.

Besides himself, he said, the panel of experts comprising Faisal Bari, Mosharraf Zaidi, Shahrukh Wani and Ayesha Raza Farooq would finalize the ideas.

He said the selected proposals would be presented to the prime minister, which would later become part of the national policy.

This would be the first time that the general public would be involved in national policy-making, he added.