President Asif Ali Zardari has called for research-based, technologically driven solutions to visibly improve health services in Pakistan. He made the call while speaking to executives of Siemens’ health division in Berlin. Siemens’ Executive Vice President Daniel Frisch and Veronika Pfister, head of Siemens government affairs, met the president in the German capital.
Zardari said Pakistan highly values German industrial, technological and infrastructure support from organisations such as Siemens. He noted that the company’s health division has had a physical presence in Pakistan for many decades, with more than 100 employees in three major cities, including Karachi.
Siemens plans to sign health sector agreements
The delegation told the president that its representatives would soon visit Pakistan to sign memorandums of understanding with local partners on capacity building and technology in the health industry. It said its technology cooperation in Pakistan extends to cancer, stroke and other diseases.
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Zardari said affordable yet qualified and highly standardised health services were fundamental to enabling every citizen to realise their potential. “We strive for broadened and all-inclusive provision of quality healthcare, particularly for poverty-stricken people in remote areas,” he said.
Frisch acknowledged the improvements he attributed to the Sindh Health Department’s networked steps. He briefed the president on the support his organisation has provided in Pakistan and said Siemens was ready to expand it through innovative solutions and technological applications.
Zardari seeks wider Siemens investment through SIFC
Zardari encouraged Siemens to deepen its collaboration in Pakistan. He also suggested the company diversify its investment, given its internationally established expertise, into other social and industrial sectors.
The president assured the company of full institutional cooperation through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) platform. He also said he was pleased that a long-awaited shared wish to expand bilateral ties with Germany had been affirmed in a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier a day earlier.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Senator Saleem Mandviwallah, Sindh provincial ministers Sharjeel Memon and Jam Khan Shoro, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Germany Salman Sharif attended the meeting.
