ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday inaugurated the Dental Hospital and College project in the campus of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

The hospital and college will be completed with an estimated cost of Rs1.35 billion. It will be the first ever public sector dental hospital, with 100 beds and 550 dental chairs, from Peshawar to Lahore.

The minister while speaking to participants said the 21st century was the century of development and strong economy was necessary for the good health and educational institutions.`Korea and Malaysia were far behind as compared to Pakistan in 1960s but today they arefar ahead of us. India copied the reforms of Pakistan in 1990 and has been making strides in developments. While world was progressing economically, we were struggling between democracy and dictatorship,` he said.

Ahsan Iqbal claimed that Pakistan was progressing well and the country which had foreign reserves of $10 billion in 2013 has the reserves of $23 billion.

Vice Chancellor Pims Dr Javed Akram said that the new block will be called Quaid-i-Azam Block and it has been decided to complete the building by next year.