News: CSF board okays six projects for job creation
Name of the Newspaper: Daily Times
Date of publication: Friday, April 13 , 2007
Website: http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\13\story_13-4-2007_pg5_16

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Board of the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) has approved six projects to support the gems & jewellery, furniture, marble & granite, and pharmaceutical clusters in various regions of Pakistan. The approved projects for co-financing will generate a substantial new investment of $5.7 million creating more than 5,000 new jobs in the country.

The board was also informed that CSF has contributed a total amount of $715,000 for the six projects and generated an additional amount of $1 million from the stakeholders. The projects will also impact competitiveness of the relevant clusters by increasing their export potential to a further $2.2 million over the next three years.

The CSF board met on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Omar Ayub Khan, Minister of State for Finance and Chairman of the CSF, to review the progress of the Fund’s activities.

Arthur Bayhan, CEO Competitiveness Support Fund, presented the annual progress report to the board members. He also briefed the board on the various sectoral policy analyses that the Fund has carried out to identify the competitive advantage of the economic sectors that have the potential to grow. Sectors studied so far include motorcycle and fisheries clusters. The CSF will be completing other competitiveness sectoral studies on Auto vendor, food processing and women’s contribution to economic growth by the end of the second quarter of 2007.

Commenting on the review of the studies, Omar Ayub Khan said that it was for the first time in Pakistan that such studies with realistic action plans, highlighting the competitiveness advantage of the concerned sectors, had been conducted. “This will not only provide a clear cut guideline to the government but would also bring in an international perspective to the sectors, thus enhancing competitiveness of Pakistan,” he added.

The board was briefed on CSF’s agreements and MoUs to improve Pakistan’s economic competitiveness with leading national and international institutions including the World Economic Forum (WEF), The Competitiveness Institute (TCI), Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), government of Sindh, and Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC); it was also informed about the response and impact generated by the State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report 2007 recently launched by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

The CSF’s investment is expected to create a multiplier effect, where every $1 of investment is expected to generate new investment eight times higher in the country. All approved projects will support private-public partnerships to link research and development institutions and private sector by involving a three-fold set of stakeholders, termed ‘Triple Helix’ by the economic leaders, which includes, private sector, academia, and government.

The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). It supports Pakistan ’s goal to have a competitive economy by providing input into policy decisions, working to improve regulatory and administrative frameworks and enhancing public-private partnerships within the country. The 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 the CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the US government is providing to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, and goverance.