News: CSF approves six projects of $5.7m
Name of the Newspaper: The Nation
Date of publication: Friday, April 13 , 2007
Website: http://nation.com.pk/daily/apr-2007/13/bnews1.php

OUR STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD - Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) Thursday approved six innovative projects worth $5.7million, paving the way for creating 5,000 new jobs in the country.

The CSF Board met here under the chair of Minister of State for Finance and Chairman CSF Omar Ayub Khan, to review the progress of the Fund’s activities.

The Board reviewed the current activities of the matching grant facility of the fund and approved six innovative projects.

The projects approved for co-financing would generate a substantial new investment of $5.7 million creating more than 5,000 new jobs in the country, says the news announcement released by CSF.

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan presiding over a high-level meeting of Competitiveness Support Fund on Thursday.

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 would support the Gems and Jewelry, Furniture, Marble and Granite and Pharmaceutical clusters in various regions of Pakistan. The projects would also impact competitiveness of the relevant clusters by increasing their export potential to a further $2.2 million over the next three years. CSF’s investment is expected to create a multiplier effect, where every $1 of investment is expected to generate new investment 8 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. 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. The CSF will be completing other competitiveness studies on Auto Vendor, Food Processing and Women’s Contribution to Economic Growth by the end of the second quarter 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. 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 (HEC), Government of Sindh (GoS), and Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC). 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. CSF also provides technical assistance and co-financing for initiatives related to entrepreneurs, 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 US Government is providing to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health and governance.