ISLAMABAD   -  President Dr Arif Alvi has said that political inclusion is imperative for fi­nancial inclusion to put the country on the path of progress and prosper­ity. He hailed millions of young voters who had expressed their confidence in the democratic system. He added that if their confidence in the system was shaken, it would not be in the country’s interest, and called for respecting the mandate of the people. He maintained that the blockage of social media web­sites in Pakistan was due to the lack of intellectual capacity to handle criticism. He also lamented that capable people were being kicked out of politics.

The President gave these remarks while addressing the third edition of Hosting Business Net 2024, a platform to promote financial inclusion and dig­ital transformation and recognize the contributions of companies working in this sector. The ceremony was attend­ed by members of the business and diplomatic community. Speaking on the occasion, the President called for enhancing the inclusion of deprived sections of society, especially women and persons with disabilities, in the mainstream of the economy through the digital transformation of the finan­cial sector for socio-economic devel­opment. He said that financial inclu­sion was not possible without political inclusion of the people as excluding them from the development process could have repercussions for the coun­try. Expressing concern over the slow decision-making and lack of leader­ship in the country, the President said that Pakistan needed good leadership and timely decision-making to put it on the path of progress and prosperity. 

He remarked that Pakistani people were a vibrant nation that had been blessed with abundant natural re­sources, adding that Pakistan needed to invest in their intellectual develop­ment and capacity building. The Presi­dent highlighted that Pakistan could not progress without the inclusion of 26.2 million out-of-school children in the education system. He stated that educating such a large portion of our population would require thousands of new schools and additional re­sources. “If left unaddressed, Pakistan would export raw labour without any value-addition”, he added. He cited the example of China which had lifted mil­lions of its people out of poverty by in­vesting in their education and health. 

The President said that technology could have been utilized to grant the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis through internet voting (i-voting) as well as bring improvements in the electoral process through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). He regretted that i-voting and EVMs could not be in­troduced due to vested interests. The President highlighted the need for set­ting priorities for the country, making good decisions and efficiently utilizing its human resources for progress of the country. He said that the low tax-to-GDP ratio was a perennial problem in Pakistan, adding that overcoming this issue would help reduce Paki­stan’s reliance on foreign loans.