Islamabad, December 5: Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) -- a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – will assist in the development of Pakistan’s Fisheries sector by preparing an Action Plan to improve the sector’s commercial & business environment, and to add value to the fish resource.

In an a meeting of the Inter-Provincial Committee on the Fisheries sector held Monday at the Ministry of Finance and chaired by the Minister of State for Finance and Chairman CSF, Omar Ayub Khan, representatives of the provincial departments of fisheries in Sindh and Balochistan and from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MinFAL) gave presentations on their operations.

The meeting was also attended by Muhammad Siddique Memon, Secretary, Livestock and Fisheries Department, Government of Sindh; Muhammad Hayat, Fisheries Development Commissioner, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MinFAL); and Akbar Shamins, Secretary IPC, Government of Balochistan. Arthur Bayhan, CEO of the CSF and Geoffrey Quartermaine Bastin, CSF agriculture, food and fisheries specialist, were also present at the meeting.

The Committee discussed several management issues faced by the fisheries sector, noting that it had not been managed effectively either by the government or by the private sector. The Committee was informed that the catch, especially marine capture, was declining fast and the value of the existing catch was not being maximized. Furthermore, so-called “influential” persons dominated the industry and restricted its activities, while costs were rising and incomes were falling and adversely affecting poverty levels in the coastal areas of the two provinces.

Failure to enforce existing regulations, poor infrastructure (especially related to fish marketing in Karachi), regulation and monitoring of the deep sea trawler fleet, and failure to manage coastal resources, especially in Sindh, were identified by the Committee as four major constraints faced by the Fisheries sector.

CSF suggested that the intervention from the Government of Pakistan should result in an improved commercial and business environment for the fishery sector along with value-addition in the fish resource, with an objective to enhance competitiveness of Pakistan’s fishery with other countries such as Thailand where fishery was a major industry. In response to the Committee’s request, CSF agreed to develop an Action Plan on behalf of all stakeholders.

In a subsequent discussion with Advisor on Finance to the Prime Minister, Dr. Salman Shah, it was agreed that the CSF Plan would be implemented for capacity building, especially of the line agencies responsible for enforcement; development of infrastructure and institutions, especially in Karachi Port; benchmarking of deep-sea capture industry; and increased transparency & improved coastal management.

Work on the Plan to be undertaken by a fisheries expert from January-March 2007, it would be based on secondary resources and studies already available to the concerned authorities. A preliminary report would be provided for review to the Minister of State for Finance by mid-February 2007. Once approved, it would be “fast-tracked” for the Prime Minister’s consideration.

The Plan would provide provincial governments and MinFAL with specific tasks for deliverables to be implemented over two years, while those for coastal management would be implemented over five years at least. CSF will audit progress and evaluate results of the plan’s implementation.

Funded by the USAID and the MoF, CSF has been tailored to the current Pakistani economic environment to strengthen and make the private sector competitive, and to improve the policy framework needed for innovation-based competitiveness (more information available at www.competitiveness.org.pk). Support for CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. Government will provide to Pakistan over the next five years to improve economic growth, education, health, and governance.

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