News: CSF provided platform by linking finance to innovation and competitiveness
Name of the Newspaper: Associated Press of Pakistan
Date of publication: Thursday, 13 September, 2007
Website: http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&
task=view&id=16505&Itemid=2

ISLAMABAD, Sep 12 (APP): The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) has provided a platform by linking finance to innovation and competitiveness for promoting sustained economic development of the country. Ministry of Finance sources told APP, that Government, private sector academia and media are working together to promote economic development in Pakistan.

The Competitiveness Support Fund a joint initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan.

Both the sides were able to create a relevant platform by using one of the best practices in emerging market economies to create a dialogue between government, private sector, academia and making media part of the triple helix to promote competitiveness for sustained economic growth in Pakistan, they remarked.

They said that recognized as the father of Competitiveness at the Harvard Business School, Prof Michael Porter and Prof. Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum; Pakistan has been identified as one of the top 10 countries in Business Dynamism and Market Flexibility.

“Pakistan has shown serious efforts in improving its competitiveness ranking which the World Economic Forum measures annually”, said Prof. Schwab.

“The seriousness and efforts put in the last one year by the government of Pakistan and the cooperation with the private sector that CSF is creating remarkable”, added Schwab.

Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz has termed “Competitiveness as the coroner stone of Pakistan’s growth strategy”.

In a short span of a little more then one year, the Competitiveness Support Fund has proved to be one of the most effective joint initiative undertaken by two governments anywhere in the developing economies.

The CSF has become the focal point for engaging both the public and private sector leaders to address the economic issues jointly, the efforts initiated by CSF have brought together the stakeholders on the leading competitiveness issues of the economy.

About CSF’S current activities, they said the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) is an independent body established in 2006 to reposition the Pakistan economy on a more competitive global footing.

CSF is a joint initiative of the Pakistan Ministry of Finance, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The precursor work identified several gaps in the performance of important sectors of the economy and a series of interventions were proposed to accelerate the adoption of practical competitiveness-building initiatives in Pakistan.

These gaps included: lack of innovative approaches, lack of linkages between the academic community and industry, poor dialogue on policy and reform issues, slow commercialization of innovation and weakness in the legal framework for a viable economic environment. CSF was designed to address these gaps.

The Competitiveness Support Fund is based on international best practices (India, Thailand, Turkey, Ireland, Finland etc.) to strengthen and make the private sector more competitive and to improve the policy framework needed for innovation-based competitiveness.

The Competitiveness Support Fund will support Pakistan’s goal of a more 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 will also provide 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.

The CSF activities will help all producers along the value chain that contribute to ultimate product quality.

By obtaining better value and better prices for quality products, and improving cooperation throughout the Pakistani economy, the CSF will contribute to poverty alleviation by providing more income for producers and better employment prospects for employees.

CSF began its operations on May 15, 2006 by organizing first ever Regional Conference on Competitiveness & Economic Growth in Asia in Pakistan. CSF has three operational windows namely:

Since its operations commenced approximately one year ago, CSF has registered success stories.

The CSF prepared the first ever State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report 2007, which contributed to the fact that Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz announced that competitiveness would be the cornerstone of Pakistan’s economic growth strategy.

Ryan C. Crocker, former US ambassador to Pakistan in a statement declared: “The Competitiveness Support Fund is one of the smallest but one of the best USAID projects, which has tremendous impact on economic development in Pakistan”.

Through the impact of CSF’s activities on supporting economic development, the Government of Pakistan has included for the first time ever competitiveness into the Poverty Reduction Strategy for the next 5 years.