KARACHI: President Dr. Arif Alvi has said that businessmen are backbone of the economy and leading contributor to the economic progress and prosperity of Pakistan.

President Dr. Arif Alvi made these remarks while addressing a ceremony of Memon Community organized by the All Pakistan Memon Federation at Karachi. 'The Memon community has contributed tremendously to the economy of Pakistan. Hundreds of educational institutes and hospitals are being run by the community". President Dr. Arif Alvi said in his address.

The President further said, business, social work and charity are the identification of the Memon community, but more efforts are required to strengthen the poor people of the country. "Neighboring countries are making progress very fast due to diligent policies and good governance, but unfortunately, Pakistan is lagging behind in this regard. He lamented that 2.2 million children were out of school in Pakistan despite the fact the provinces were spending almost 25 per cent of their budget for education. We need to bring these out of school children into education system, he added.

Earlier, President Dr. Arif Alvi distributed the mementos among the Heroes of the Memon Community and urged more contributions to resolving the problems in Pakistan. The president of the APMF Shabir Haroon, Former President APMF Hanif Motlani and others also addressed at the ceremony.