News: NAVTEC, CSF to work jointly to promote vocational training
Name of NewsPaper: Business Recorder
Date of Publication: : Friday, 31 August, 2007
URL:

RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD - The National Vocational Training and Education Commission (NAVTEC) and the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) will work together to improve the compositeness of motorcycle, fisheries and horticulture sectors by developing skilled workforce, critically required, in Pakistan.

A meeting of CSF and NAVTEC held here on Thursday in which it was agreed by both the parties that they would join hands to improve the competitiveness of various sectors and bring them at level of regional competitors.

The CSF carried out policy studies and action plans on the sectors that have potential and competitive advantage to grow. NAVTEC and CSF agreed to work jointly to promote vocational training in specific sectors to build the capacity of the work force for the industrial development. The sectors agreed are the Motorcycle, Fisheries and Horticulture.

The CSF is responsible for supporting country’s goal to be a more competitive economy by providing input into policy decisions, working to improve regulatory and administrative frameworks and enhancing public-private partnerships within Pakistan.

NAVTEC, Executive Director, Athar Tahir appreciated the CSF work for economic growth and in these sectors and said that “we are happy to work with the CSF and we will benefit from the sectoral studies of CSF, which clearly gives us perspective to design future NAVTEC’s programs accordingly.

NAVTEC and CSF also agreed to work jointly to plan in advance the need of the skilled workforce for the new investment in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in future.

The CSF carried out a policy study on the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and benchmarked Pakistan with India, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. Based on the study, CSF has been asked by the government to prepare an action plan on the best practices to be implemented for the effective SEZs in Pakistan. The action plan includes the legal and institutional framework and incentives for the SEZs.

NAVTEC also asked CSF to assist it in the “Twining Project” that NAVTEC has recently launched, where CSF will be providing assistance in terms of linking the Pakistani institutes with the relevant international institutions in the US, Europe and Asia.
As a starting point both the organizations have also agreed to initiate a joint project in Hala/Sindh on ceramic and tiles manufacturing.

The project will focus on skill development, brining innovation to the business processes, new designs and marketing approach. The project will also create commercial links of the ceramic and tile clusters with the international players globally.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz earlier this week urged the Ministry of Textile and other relevant institutions to work with the CSF to develop skilled workforce in the country, which is badly needed to improve the competitiveness of the economy. The Prime Minister termed competitiveness as a corner stone of Pakistan’s growth strategy.

Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the CSF emphasized the importance of strengthening the public-private partnerships to promote vocational training to develop skilled workforce, which is badly needed to improve industry competitiveness. He further said that to the manufacturing industry, services sector and agriculture are the drivers of the economic growth in Pakistan.

Realizing the role of skilled and technically educated manpower for development of overall national economy, the government established NAVTEC in November 2006. The Commission is mandated to facilitate, regulate, and provide policy direction for technical education and vocational training to meet national and international demand for skilled manpower.