USAID-CSF releases World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008; Pakistan ranks 89 among 127 countries

The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), partner institute of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Pakistan, today released the “WEF Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008.” The report ranks Pakistan 89 out of 127 countries in terms of nations’ preparedness to effectively promote business, improve investment climate and develop infrastructure.

“It is evident that technology is playing a leading role in accelerating economic growth and promoting development,” said CSF’s Chief Executive Officer, Arthur Bayhan. “A coherent government vision on information and communications technologies, coupled with an early focus on education and innovation, are keys to spur network readiness and to lay the foundations for sustainable growth.”

This year’s ranking shows a five-point decline for Pakistan from last year when it was ranked 84 out of 122 countries. Although telecom operators are aggressively upgrading their network infrastructure to launch broadband data and multimedia services, Pakistan still ranks low on the cost of broadband and on the security of Internet servers. Furthermore, the number of days and procedures to enforce a contract in Pakistan is also a key challenge in achieving sustainable impact.

According to the Global Information Technology Report of the World Economic Forum, Pakistan is ranked at 89 out of 127 countries, which is a 5 step down ranking from last year, where Pakistan was ranked at 84 out of 122 countries. The decline is a result of a weakened political and regulatory environment (100) and the infrastructure environment (101), which refers to network facilities, network capacity and capabilities. Although telecom operators are aggressively upgrading their network infrastructure to launch broadband data and multimedia services, Pakistan is still ranked low on the cost of broadband (100) and on the security of Internet servers (97). Furthermore, the number of days and procedures to enforce a contract (112) in Pakistan is also one of the key issues in achieving sustainable impact.

Published for the seventh consecutive year, the WEF Global Information Technology Report is the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of information and communication technologies on nations’ development and competitiveness.

Irene Mia, Senior Economist and Co-Editor of the Report, will give an live online video briefing on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM Pakistan Standard Time at: www.competitiveness.org.pk/GITR2008.

Support for CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. Government is providing, through USAID, to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, governance and earthquake reconstruction.

Watch Video Interviews with the Report editors and contributors:

CSF TAKES ON IQRA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO CONDUCT THE EXECUTIVE OPINION SURVEY 2008 OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

The Competitiveness Support Fund engages the students of IQRA University, Karachi with the aim of creating a network between the leading business community and the future business leaders.

The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) as the partner institution of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is carrying out the Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) 2008 in Pakistan for the Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009.

The Competitiveness Support Fund, a joint initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan, has proposed a unique strategy to the World Economic Forum to engage the academia in conducting the Executive Opinion Surveys. By doing so, CSF aims at building the capacity of the future business leaders who will soon be joining the business community and help create a group of business leaders who would be sensitized on the importance of Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), the Global Competitiveness Report’s 12 pillars and the role of business community in measuring the GCI. Through this exercise, the students will also be provided with the opportunity to interact with the leading CEOs of the country and create industry academia linkage across Pakistan.

As part of the strategy and implementation process, CSF today held an interactive session at IQRA University, Karachi to engage the faculty members and the students for this exercise. The meeting included discussions on the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008, which is published each year by the World Economic Forum and benchmarks 131 economies over the 12 competitiveness pillars.

Amir Jahangir from the Competitiveness Support Fund informed the students and the faculty members that Pakistan ranked 92 out of 131 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index and elaborated the issues concerning Pakistan’s competitiveness. Jahangir further added that the CSF strategy has also been appreciated by the Harvard Business School and is being considered to being one of the most innovative strategies from any of the 153 World Economic Forum partner institutes. CSF also shared that once this exercise is successfully completed, it carries the potential of being implemented across the other WEF partner institutes in 130 member countries, which will prove to be a milestone for Pakistan’s collaboration with the World Economic Forum.

CSF shared that the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) has been the World Economic Forum’s flagship publication and is widely recognized as the world’s leading cross-country comparator of factors affecting economic competitiveness and growth. The Executive Opinion Survey is a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report and provides the key component that turns the Report into a representative annual measure of a country’s economic environment and its ability to achieve sustained growth. Top level business executives operating in Pakistan will be surveyed to capture their opinion on the business environment in which they operate.

Fahd Ali Raza, Head of Department for Business Administration at IQRA University and one of the faculty members leading the student group for this very prestigious exercise described this as an important initiative to promote competitiveness relevant issues as research topics at the higher academic level. He appreciated CSF for developing such an innovative strategy with a focus on academia in Pakistan and stated that this would also help the academia in developing stronger networks with the business sector and bridge the gaps.

CSF will be interacting with other leading economic, business and journalism schools across Pakistan to create a network of more then 100 students and faculty members to assist CSF in carrying out the Executive Opinion Survey from January to May 2008.
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.

USAID-CSF Seminar to Encourage Female Input in Pakistani Economy

The United States Agency for International Development funded Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) held a seminar here to encourage greater female participation in the Pakistani economy by involving students of the Lahore College for Women University in the 2008 World Economic Forum (WEF) Executive Opinion Survey.

“This initiative promotes competitiveness as a research topic and forges linkages between academia and the business,” said Professor Riffat Saqlain, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at the Lahore College for Women University. “More importantly, it bridges business’ gender gap by including Pakistani female students in the process.”

As a partner institution of the World Economic Forum (WEF), CSF is carrying out the 2008 Executive Opinion Survey to rank Pakistan’s economy for the WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009. The survey will cover top-level business executives operating in Pakistan to capture their opinion on local business environment.

The CSF is a $11.8 million joint initiative of USAID and the Ministry of Finance. The program will be interacting with other leading economic, business and journalism schools across Pakistan to create a network of more than 100 students and faculty members to carry out the Executive Opinion Survey from January to May 2008. This initiative also creates competitiveness clubs and opportunities for academia to initiate research papers on competitiveness issues.

Other speakers of the seminar included Chairman FPCCI Standing Committee on Competitiveness, Rehmat Ullah Javed; Chairperson Women Entrepreneur Committee FPCCI, Sheila Malik; and Communications Manager CSF, Amir Jahangir.

Support for CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. Government is providing, through USAID, to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, and governance and to reconstruct areas affected by the October 2005 earthquake.

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