News: Pakistan’s competitiveness: CSF report sets 60-65 rank target by 2010
Name of the Newspaper: Daily Times
Date of publication: Saturday, March 17, 2007
Website:http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C17
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ISLAMABAD: The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) has set a goal of moving Pakistan from its rank of 91 in the world to a rank ranging between 60 to 65 by the year 2010.

The State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report 2007 released by Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) recently has suggested for improved competitiveness and a comprehensive approach in this regard.

The State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness 2007 report has stressed upon the need to keep inflation within the single digit figure, reduction in budget deficit and continued growth in foreign currency reserves to ensure financial security of the country.

Pakistan can position itself in the world economy as a country in full compliance with the international standards. This will also help improve Pakistan’s image and “brand name” abroad.

The report has presented a snapshot of Pakistan’s competitiveness in year 2007. It has indicated both country’s strength and weaknesses. It has suggested a comprehensive approach for improving the competitiveness of Pakistan. The report reveals that improvement in competitiveness, in turn, will enable the government to achieve its ambitious target of high economic growth, increased employment and continued rapid progress in poverty reduction. The report has suggested that a series of presentations should be made based on the results and findings of this study and feed back from these groups should be elicited.

This input should be incorporated into revised set of priorities and initiatives for a proposed “Competitiveness Agenda 2007-2008”.

The report says that it is important to reduce the obstacles to formation of new businesses and growth of small and medium enterprises. The time and cost of bringing things from port of Karachi to the factory floor must be reduced.

It further states that the government should focus on continued progress in judicial reforms and effective application of rule of law to commerce, including enforcement of contracts and the fair resolution of disputes. It says to begin with preparing a new generation of business managers and entrepreneurs who can lead Pakistan forward to new levels of competitiveness in coming years. Pakistan firms must lead the way as export champions and position themselves as compliant with global labor, consumer and environmental standards.

Failure to adopt world-class labour standard will risk erosion of confidence from international investors and buyers, who increasingly insist on rigorous adoption and enforcement of such standards.

The framework for competitiveness requires active efforts by both government and private sector. While the government implements its reforms in the macro-economic and microeconomic business environment, private sector leaders must also respond improving business strategies and operation including corporate governance, compliance with global standards and human resource management.

It will require that business leaders reposition their companies and their industries in the world markets. At the same time, it is necessary to begin preparing a new generation of business managers and entrepreneurs who can lead Pakistan forward to new levels of competitiveness in coming years.

The leaders in the banking industry must build on impressive recent gains in efficiency that has resulted in lower spreads between deposit rates and loan rates. They must develop new products that further improve access to credit that can expand home ownership, free up dead capital and allow families to improve their dwellings and standard of living.

The financial access should be expanded without risking the health of the financial sector, by improving credit risk reporting through means such as credit bureaus. This will require revisiting federal legislation and credit bureau regulation.

The industries and their education and training providers need to work together to define skills gap, skill standards, current deficiencies and new training programs. All universities and vocational training schools need to improve their placement programs and industry out reach. Support for patent registration will help Pakistan individuals and institutions to register international patents and to boost their investment in research and development. Policies also required to lead to rapid expansion in utilization digital technologies, in this regard Pakistan must join the international “one child one computer” programme.