For the economic prosperity and growth, government should also focus on the rural area development, because still efforts claimed by the successive governments seems insufficient and fragmented, Mahfooz Elahi has said, while addressing a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The President said that the rural sector consists of large proportion of our total population of our country, which has very small  access of basic necessities of life like health care, better education, transportation, communication facilities, safe and clear drinking water and electricity etc. He emphasized on the development of rural areas of Pakistan to have their more contribution in economic growth of the country.

He citing the example of China said it has shifted its focus on rural development by allocating a huge amount in the annual budget. He said that reforms are needed to be brought for rural development for enhancing the living standards of the people, along with skill development for providing jobs to a large segment of people living in these areas.

Mahfooz Elahi said that Sustainable rural microfinance program is required for local enterprise development and trainings centers can be established for imparting different skills to produce skillful labor.  These microfinance institutions should offer both savings and credit services to rural area inhabitants so that they can mobilise their own resources more efficiently.

He said that Village Skills Development Program should be demand-driven to focus mainly on traditional crafts making at the village level to enhance earning potential of local communities.

The President said that new farming techniques should be introduced with the help of foreign experts. He said that per acre yield in Pakistan is much below than other countries, which is required to be enhanced to meet the needs of the growing population.

He said that Pakistan is an agro-based economy, so we should pay more attention on research by developing new variety of agriculture produce rather than concentrating only on traditional agriculture items. He said that by developing new crops and having variety of agriculture products, Pakistan can enhance its exports considerably which at present is much below than the existing potential.