LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said the government introduced several schemes for the development of youth, fully realising that dreams for progress would remain unrealised without quality input by younger generations. He was addressing International Symposium on 'Youth Led Community Development' as chief guest.

It was organised by NGO Education for Sustainable Development in Pakistan at a local hotel on Thursday.

Ahsan Iqbal said the government has maintained steady hold over varied crisis in the country during the last 15 months, adding that Middle East, Europe, China and other states are showing interest to invest in Pakistan due to government's strong policies for building the economy. The minister said that youth constitute almost 60 percent population of the country, saying they should be given proper opportunities to develop their talents.

He reiterated that the government introduced several self-employment programmes including Youth Loan and Yellow Cab schemes for their development.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2014