Islamabad, May 9 – “Pakistan needs to update and submit its data on economic indicators to the international sources to reflect Pakistan’s progress in real term on the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum”, this was stated today by Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the Competitiveness Support Fund here today. The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) was making a special presentation to the Statistics Division, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics.

The meeting with the Federal Bureau of Statistics was a part of CSF’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. One of the prime reasons’ for Pakistan’s low ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index is the non-availability of the updated data to the international sources. The World Economic Forum uses the hard data available to the international sources for evaluating the competitiveness of the nations. The soft data for the GCI is measured through executive opinion surveys, where more then 11,000 international business leaders provide their input on their experiences in the respective economies.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Asad Elahi, Secretary Statistics Division, informed the CSF delegation that his institution has adopted a pro-active strategy to make the Statistics Division more effective and efficient; this includes the organizational restructuring of the Division to promote professionalism and technical up-gradation to report more accurately on the socio economic indicators. He also further said that the Division is moving from an annual reporting structure to the quarterly reporting structure. “This will definitely help the decision makers in effective benchmarking, planning and implementation, thus improving the overall competitiveness of Pakistan”, Elahi added.

Mr. Elahi also informed the delegation that the Division is undertaking initiatives to improve the level of professionalism in the organization through training workshops and short courses. In this regard the Bureau has conducted more than 40 courses and has trained 800 people. Around 20 international experts from the U.S. Statistic Bureaus, GTZ of Germany and experts from Europe on Energy and WTO have conducted these workshops. He also indicated that the prime objective of his team is to make the timely availability of the data in a user friendly manner.

Elaborating on the future plans for the Statistics Division, Mr. Elahi informed the delegation on the establishment of ‘Business Registers’ in the private sector. He said the biggest challenge for his team is to gather the reliable data from the private sector. He asked the CSF to assist the Statistics Division in launching the Business Registers in Pakistan.

Mr. Arthur Bayhan appreciated the concept of Business Registers and told the meeting that “the Business Registers will play an important role to promote Global Growth Companies in Pakistan. Pakistani companies should not hesitate to provide right data, so they can create linkages with global companies for global operations and innovation”. He further added that “Business Registers are crucial for economic growth and development of a knowledge-based economy”. CSF will work with the Statistics Division, Pakistan Business Council and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry to develop the Business Registers in the country to improve competitiveness. CSF will also assist the Statistics Division in establishing international linkages with the international sources.

Arthur Bayhan in his presentation briefed the Statistics Division on the strengths and weaknesses of the GCI indicators related to the statistics division and the crucial role it has to play as the primary source for international institutions on Pakistan’s economy. He further elaborated the importance of the Federal Bureau of Statistics’ role in improving Pakistan’s competitiveness ranking.

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 lack of timely data provision to the international sources as one of the main reasons for Pakistan’s low ranking in the GCR.

Mr. Elahi, also informed the delegation, that the Statistics Division is working on various statistics, which includes, Price, Labour Force Demographic, Household Income & Expenditure, Social & Economic Status of household and Private Building Construction Statistics as the primary source of data in Pakistan. The Bureau is also the working on the Manufacturing Industries, Education, Health, Mining/Electricity, Business and Communication and Agricultural Statistics as the secondary source of data.

Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz launched the State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report in March this year. The Prime Minister asked the Competitiveness Support Fund to brief all the line- ministries on the importance of competitiveness for economic growth. The Prime Minister termed competitiveness as a corner stone of Pakistan’s growth strategy. The Prime Minister also indicated that almost 60% of Pakistan’s population will be in the age bracket of 18 to 25 years. The economic experts have indicated that the recent economic growth will develop a large, productive and prosperous middle class in the country.

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. He also pointed out that other countries in the region are improving their competitiveness by timely updating their data with the international sources and Pakistan should also develop such linkages.

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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