Islamabad, May 2: Due to the desire of Prime Minister at the lunching ceremony of the State of Pakistan Competitiveness Report in March, the Competitiveness Support Fund made a special presentation to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower here today to discuss the identified sectors where Pakistan is lacking behind and can improve its competitiveness. The meetings with the other ministries will follow.

The CSF delegation comprised of Arthur Bayhan, CEO of the Competitiveness Support Fund and Abdul Basit, Joint Secretary, of the Prime Minister’s Special Programme Wing, Ministry of Finance.

The meeting was chaired by the Federal Secretary for Labour and Manpower, Malik Asif Hayat. Mr. Hayat informed the CSF delegation about a number of new initiatives that the Ministry is undertaking to improve the labour productivity in the country. This includes a joint initiative with the International Labour Organization (ILO) on women empowerment, developing a mechanism to create more coordinated efforts at the federal and provincial levels to address the labour issues. Furthermore, in collaboration with ILO, the ministry is also launching “Labour Market Information System” to disseminate detailed information about the labour market. Secretary Hayat, also informed the delegation that, “our emphasis is on actively involving the private sector in increasing the labour productivity in the country.”

Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the Competitiveness Support Fund in his presentation, briefed the ministry on the strengths and weaknesses of the market efficiency and labor productivity indicators, where Pakistan is lacking behind. “Pakistan has to create more synergies through public-private partnerships in labour productivity and efficiency”, said Bayhan. CSF will be cooperating closely on the new initiatives of the ministry of labour and manpower in improving Pakistan’s ranking on the market efficiency and labor productivity indicators.

The presentation highlighted the competitiveness aspects of the labour and manpower issues in Pakistan with respect to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) of the World Economic Forum and the State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report of the CSF. The GCR identifies; inadequately educated workforce, poor work ethics in national labour force, and restrictive labour restrictions as most problematic factors in doing business in Pakistan.

As indicated by the GCR and re-emphasized in the State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report, Pakistan has made improvements in the hiring and firing practices and cooperation in labour-employer relations.

The CSF delegation was also told that under the Apprenticeship Law, all firms having more then 50 employees are required to provide internship opportunities. However there is a lack of willingness at the part of the private sector to comply with this so that the labour productivity is improved.

Mr. Bayhan emphasized the importance of strengthening the public-private partnerships to promote vocational schools. He further said that to enhance the efficiency and productivity to sustain the economic growth in Pakistan, it is important to increase the quality of the business and management schools and the private sector should be encouraged to provide more opportunities for trainings. In this regard, the CSF will get in touch with its partner institutions such as the Pakistan Business Council and the FPCCI.

Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). CSF Supports Pakistan’s goal to be of a more competitiveness economy by providing input into policy decisions, working to improve regulatory and administrative frameworks and enhancing public-private partnerships within the country. CSF also provides technical assistance and co-financing for initiatives related to entrepreneurship, business incubators and private-sector-led initiatives with research institutes and universities that contribute to creating a knowledge-driven economy.

Support for CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. Government is providing to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, and governance.

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