President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry Atif Munir Sheikh has said that industry-academia linkages are imperative for sustained economic growth in addition to promoting knowledge-based economy and providing qualified and highly skilled workers to face the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution.
Addressing a zoom meeting with Executive Director, Higher Education Commission Dr. Shaista Sohail here on Sunday, he welcomed the beginning of direct contacts between HEC and FCCI and said that it is very encouraging that HEC has realized the fact that without synchronizing industry with higher education institutes, we could not make a phenomenal and inclusive growth.
Atif Munir Sheikh termed the direct meeting between HEC and FCCI as a new milestone towards unfolding a modern industrial era of cloud computing, robotic and artificial intelligence etc. He hoped that the contacts between the two entities would continue in future to get tangible results.
Introducing Faisalabad, he said that it has been contributing more than 52% share towards the total textile export of Pakistan. “It was also catering 80% domestic needs of cloth wears at the national level”, he said and remarked that despite this excellent contribution, the industrial sector was working on decades old traditional technologies and skills without any new inventions. He suggested that university graduates and scholars must spend at least six months in their relevant industry to understand its practical implications and give globally acceptable solutions by utilizing their theoretical knowledge.
