Islamabad, May 7- The Competitiveness Support Fund, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) made a special presentation to the Ministry of Women Development here today. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Mahmood Salim Mahmood, Secretary of the Ministry of Women Development.

The State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report of the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) and the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) identified gender integration as a key for a long term economic growth. “The Ministry of Women Development should provide specific strategies and interventions to improve female participation rate in the value added sectors to promote more economic growth”, this was stated by Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the Competitiveness Support Fund. CSF was making a presentation to the Ministry of Women Development (MoWD), as a part of CFS’s initiative to bring all the line- ministries on board to improve Pakistan’s ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum. Pakistan is ranked 91 on the GCI in 2006, where Pakistan showed improvement of 3 rankings from 94 to 91 in 2005.

Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz launched the State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report in March this year. The Prime Minister termed competitiveness as the corner stone of Pakistan’s growth strategy. On the desire of the PM, CSF delegation is making a series of presentations to all the line- ministries. Today’s presentation to the Ministry of Women Development was the 4th such interaction with any line- ministry, the meeting with the other relevant ministries will follow.

Arthur Bayhan in his presentation briefed the ministry on the strengths and weaknesses of the global indicators related to the women development of the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR). Bayhan explained the rational behind the indicators and pointed out that the data used for these indicators is not up-to-date. He said that the government made tremendous progress in the last four years and improved almost all the indicators respectively.

Mr. Bayhan said that the Ministry of Women Development has an important role to play in integrating almost 50% of the country’s population as economically productive workforce. He informed the ministry that, the linkages between female participation rates and economic growth rates are quite clear in all instances. He quoted “in the era of 1970-90, Asia-Pacific economies recorded a 1.96% increase in GDP for every 1% of women’s participation in the non-governmental employment. Female economic participation in NIC’s economic growth over three decades contributed 35-40% of annual GDP growth.”

The State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report by CSF, identifies that Pakistan is very weak in the private sector employment of women indicator, where Pakistan is ranked 119 among 125 countries. This is not only
bringing Pakistan’s competitiveness ranking low, but is also one of the reasons’ that private sector is lagging behind the progress made by the government on competitiveness. Willingness to delegate authority, extent of staff training and reliance on professional management are some other main areas where the private sector is lagging behind.

The Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum also ranks Pakistan on 112 among 115 countries on the economic participation and opportunity index. Pakistan ranks on 110 and 112 on the Education Attainment and the
Health & Survival indexes respectively. However Pakistan shows impressive improvement in the ranking of 37 on the political empowerment index on gender.

Mr. Mahmood Salim Mahmood, Secretary of the Ministry of Women Development (MoWD) informed the CSF delegation about his ministry’s vision for improving the soci-economic conditions of women in Pakistan. He further told the delegation that the ministry has suggested a 10% quota for the women in the work force. He also said that, the MoWD has set an example for other government institutions and private sector by ensuring 50% of women employees in his own ministry by the end of next year.

He further informed the delegation about the Gender Reform Action Plan (GRAP), which is the largest project on portfolio of the MoWD. Elaborating on the initiative, he said that the overall aim of the project is to promote women’s access to the economic, political and social empowerment, at the national, provincial and district level. The major responsibility of the GRAP is to develop and implement a coherent gender reform agenda, to align policies, structure and procedures, for enabling the government to implement its national and international commitments on gender and equality issues. Mr. Mahmood also appreciated the efforts of CSF to highlight the deficiency areas where Pakistan is lacking on competitiveness issues on the Global Competitiveness Index.

Mr. Mahmood also suggested that the Ministry of Women Development should work closely with CSF on identifying the competitiveness aspects of the economic participation and opportunities for women in Pakistan. He also asked CSF to assist the ministry in benchmarking Pakistan against other emerging economies in the region, to provide a roadmap to the ministry on the international best practices.

The Secretary Women Development, Mr. Mahmood also informed the delegation that his ministry would like to submit updated data to the CSF in improving Pakistan’s ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum. The ministry will be providing its inputs in the State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report for 2008 as well. He appreciated the fact that CSF is carrying out a policy relevant analysis on competitive advantage of gender integration in the economic development and its contribution to the economic growth. The secretary urged CSF to share the findings of the report as a policy guideline for the ministry.

Abdul Basit, Joint Secretary, Prime Minister’s Special Programme Wing, Ministry of Finance informed the meeting that the Prime Minister’s Special Programme Wing (PMSP) has been tasked to coordinate with all the ministries for a close interaction to work with the CSF on improving Pakistan’s competitiveness ranking.

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.

Click here to Download Global Gender Gap Index 2006 of WEF

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