CPEC TO BRING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PROSPERITY IN REGION: DR. HATHAL
Dr. Hathal Homoud Alotaibi, President, International Islamic University (IIU) has said that CPEC is a vital project that will bring economic development in the region and it shall be a source of promoting prosperity between both countries.
He was addressing the concluding ceremony of a two-day international conference on “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Building Narratives” organized by Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue (IRD), of International Islamic University (IIU) at Quaid-e-Azam Auditorium, Faisal Masjid Campus, Islamabad.
In his speech, IIUI President said that CPEC will indeed open new avenues of progress in various sectors such as energy, railways and engineering that will ultimately result in improvement of economy and GDP.
Talking about the IIUI’s future, he said through strategic plan and reforms, the university has been put on the corridor of progress and success. Dr. Hathal said that talented and hardworking officials and students will be encouraged and awards for the best teacher, best researcher, best employee and best academic program will be introduced in future. IIU President, stressing the need of conducting such more conferences, hailed the efforts of IRD. He urged the youth to keep contributing to the country’s progress. He added that students are the future of the country, they must be provided with an ideal learning environment.
Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Dean of the faculty of Social Sciences in his address said that it is the age of narratives and there is a dire need to address the perception about CPEC with the help of actual facts, stats and realities. He urged for more research adding that the presence of ample research literature would help in building the counter narratives. He pointed out optimized and simplified versions of propaganda against CPEC and called for establishment of research centers and think tanks to evaluate the hyped propaganda and build a true narrative based on facts.
In his address, Dr. Husn ul Amin, Executive Director IRD explained aims and objectives of the conference. He said recommendations of the conference shall be shared to all the relevant forums of research and legislation. He said there was a need to discuss multifaceted issues of CPEC and added that academia’s part that it must build a balanced and factual narrative on this important topic. He also elaborated the role and activities of IRD in promoting research and dialogue.
The conference was organized by IRD in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Sciences that was attended by eminent national and international experts in economics, sociology and mass media. In different sessions of the conference, around 50 national and international experts, researchers, academicians and intellectuals discussed various aspects of CPEC’s regional and global impact.