News: CSF lauded for conducting Executive Opinion Survey
Name of Newspaper: The Post
Date of Publication: Wednesday, 25 June, 2008
URL:http://thepost.com.pk/BizNewsT.aspx?dtlid=168614&catid=7

Associated Press of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Competitiveness Support Fund was applauded at the World Economic Forum East Asia conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on introducing a pioneer strategy for conducting Executive Opinion Survey 2008 for the Global Competitiveness Report 2008-09.

According to CSF press statement here on Tuesday, the CSF strategy for the survey was based on engaging the students from leading business schools and other academic institutes to carry out the executive opinion surveys throughout the country.

Through this exercise, the CSF aimed at timely submission of the survey forms and improving the data collection process in terms of both quality as well as quantity.

It also resulted in creating a group of future business leaders who would be sensitised on the importance of Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), its 12 pillars and the role of business community in measuring the GCI.

It engaged academia in this exercise to build capacity of the future business leaders preparing to join the business community for the next Executive Opinion Surveys.

On the suggestions of CSF, the WEF survey forms were provided in Urdu language also which resulted in a 35 percent increase in response rate for the executive opinion surveys in 2008-2007 as compared to 9 percent in 2006-2007, the press release added.

CSF also engaged BrightSpyre, the pioneers in Online Recruitment and Human Resource Management Company in Pakistan, to link this exercise with future jobs for the students as well as their capacity building for interacting with the top CEOs in Pakistan.

More than 230 top-level business executives operating in Pakistan were surveyed by students from Pakistan's leading universities and business schools to capture their opinion on the business environment in which they operate.

CSF also engaged the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, BrightSpyre, Pakistan Business Council and the leading academic institutions in Pakistan.

The World Economic Forum in partnership with the Competitiveness Support Fund started the Executive Opinion Survey 2008 in Pakistan in January 2008. The Executive Opinion Survey, The Voice of the Business Community, is a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report and provides the key ingredient that turns the Report into a representative annual measure of a nation's economic environment and its ability to achieve sustained growth.