News Desk
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has called for promoting greater cooperation between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the fields of education, trade, and economy. He said that both countries enjoyed cordial relations that needed to be further expanded for the mutual benefit of the two sides.
He highlighted the need for enhanced cooperation in higher education, academia, and research to boost mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.
President Arif Alvi expressed these views while talking to a delegation of Senior Civil Servants of Sri Lanka, as they were called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Thursday. Currently, as many as twenty Senior Civil Servants from Sri Lanka are attending a two-week training program related to International Relations, Public Policy, Peace and Strategic Studies, Leadership, and Management, at NDU (National Defence University), Islamabad.
He urged the bureaucracy to be responsive to people’s requirements, improve the system’s efficiency, and their capacity and intellect for ensuring fast-paced development. He said that developing nations should focus on improvement in education and health sectors, besides making fast decisions to address the challenges being faced them.
The President also underscored the need to become more financially disciplined to overcome the perennial financial issues of developing countries. He further said that common people alone could not be burdened again and again to suffer from poor economic decisions as the elites should also share the burden for the benefit of the country. He further said that decision-makers and bureaucracy must change their attitude and mindset to help resolve issues of the people.
Cooperation in Economy and Education
While responding to a question, the President emphasized the need for greater economic cooperation among the South Asian countries that would bring greater prosperity to the masses of the region. Dr Alvi further stated that developing countries should stay away from the new global polarization and focus on issues like literacy, health, climate change, global warming, and improving regional cooperation.
The participants of the training praised the efforts of the Higher Education Commission and NDU for taking the initiative to provide training spcae and facilities to Civil Servants of friendly countries.
These Civil Servants are attending an Executive Training Program, which aims to impart modern techniques and knowledge to Civil Servants to ensure good governance and efficient service delivery. The training also focuses on promoting mutual understanding among civil services and academia of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
