Sindh Horticulture Industry seeks help of the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF)

A Horticulture delegation of mango, banana and dates growers from Sindh province have sought the help of the Competitiveness Support Fund to enhance their competitiveness as well as improve the quality of their products to the market.

The delegation comprised Mr. Mehmood Nawaz Shah, General Secretary of the Sindh Abadgar Board, and Mr. Ghulam Sarwar, a progressive Horticulture farmer from Sindh.

Mr. Nawaz said approximately 1.7 million mangoes are produced in Pakistan of which less than 5 per cent are exported at some of the lowest prices in the world. He said there was a need to add value to mangoes in the areas where they are grown in Pakistan.

“That is one of the prime reasons for our turning to CSF,’’ he said, adding: “We need the help of CSF in establishing a value added mango processing facility in Tando Allah Yar in Sindh.’’

Within the framework of the existing MOU signed with the Government of Sindh, the Competitiveness Support Fund is launching a new initiative jointly with the Sindh Government to help the mango, dates and bananas industry segments to upgrade their physical infrastructure for better processing of the said products.

The initiative is planned to be a public private partnership so that the beneficiaries take ownership, said Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the Competitiveness Support Fund. Mr. Bayhan expressed appreciation on working closely working with Mr. Nazar Hussain Mahar, Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development, Government of Sindh.

During his recent visit to Karachi, Mr. Bayhan also met with the Chief Minister of Sindh, Mr. Qaim Ali Shah and discussed further cooperation with the new government.

Pakistan currently exports an estimated $170 million horticultural produce which CSF aims to increase to $1 billion by 2012 through its support to the Task Force on Horticulture Finance and Competitiveness.

Only 16 per cent of fruits are processed in Pakistan and this can be enhanced exponentially as there are great opportunities to augment the volume of value added products using modern technology. The potential markets for Pakistani exporters have been identified in Europe and the Middle East.

Currently there are an estimated 6,638 tons of fruit is processed in Pakistan with Citrus topping the list with 1,944 tons, followed by mangoes with 1,675 tons, dates with 622 tons and banana with 158 tons. These are located in all four provinces with 4,197 tons produced in Punjab, 983 in Balochistan, 945 in Sindh and 513 in NWFP.
CSF is a joint initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan and has been established to reposition economy on a more global footing. The Fund is based on international best practices and has been tailored to the current Pakistani economic environment.

CSF supports 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.

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

PEMRA Board approves Competitiveness Support Fund’s recommendations to reduce cost of doing business in the media sector

The Competitiveness Support Fund suggested reforms to reduce the number of procedures and documents for licensing from 23 to 7; reducing the days for licensing from average 540 to 67 days.

The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), a joint initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan established to reposition Pakistan’s economy on a more global competitive footing. The Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2007-2008, which is published each year by the World Economic Forum, benchmarking 131 economies over the 12 economic pillars shows that Pakistan is declining in its rankings, losing its competitive advantage for doing business in Pakistan. The GCR especially highlights Pakistan’s weaknesses related to institutional effectiveness and the efficiency of legal framework.

As part of CSF objectives to enhance the competitiveness of Pakistan’s economy, CSF has identified crucial areas in the licensing process and procedures to improve the business environment and encourage investment in the media industry in Pakistan.

CSF has reviewed the current licensing procedure of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to improve the business environment to attract investment in the media sector. CSF, as a result recommended crucial steps to be taken by PEMRA to simplify the application procedure and reducing the number of days for doing business and obtaining licenses.

Based on a careful analysis and on the need and requirements of the stakeholders, CSF proposed new guidelines for provision of documents with a license application, reducing the current requirement of 23 different documents to only 7. The reduction of steps and documents will also reduce the pre-qualification time-frame from 30 days in general to 15 days, after which PEMRA will be sending the application to the Ministry of Interior and its line departments for the relevant clearance. CSF has also suggested streamlining of obtaining the necessary clearance procedures, providing a period of maximum 45 days for final clearance from the Ministry of Interior.

Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the Competitiveness Support Fund, stated that “to improve the competitiveness of any economy, including Pakistan, it is essential to build up a coalition between public, private, academia and the media sectors. Changing mindset is crucial for promoting innovation and competitiveness.” Bayhan further said, “It directly effects the social and economic environment in a country”. “We believe that the proposed recommendations by CSF will greatly improve the business environment in Pakistan and will encourage people to invest in the media industry for dividends in long term to provide access to information to the urban as well as the rural population of Pakistan”, said Bayhan.

The World Bank and its International Finance Corporation (IFC) in its annual report of “Doing Business 2008” have also identified that Pakistan has lost its position of 73 in 2007 to 76 in 2008 out of 178 economies. In dealing with licenses, Pakistan ranks 93 as compared to 91 in 2008 and 2007 respectively. The report also identified an average 223 days to get a license in Pakistan, which is quite high as compared to 153 days in most of the emerging market economies.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 (GCR) has been the World Economic Forum’s flagship publication since 1979 and is widely recognized as the world’s leading cross-country comparator of factors affecting economic competitiveness and growth. The Competitiveness Support Fund as the partner institute of the World Economic Forum is working closely with various stakeholders to improve the state of Pakistan’s competitiveness in Pakistan.

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 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.

Competitiveness Support Fund Media News Articles Coverage / Journalism

Competitiveness Support Fund Media News Articles Coverage / Journalism

World Economic Forum nominates Hina Rabbani Khar as the Young Global Leader for 2008

245 leading executives, public figures and intellectuals - all aged 40 or younger - were chosen from around the world

The World Economic Forum announced today the list of Young Global Leaders for 2008. This honor is bestowed each year by the World Economic Forum to recognize and acknowledge the top 200-300 young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. The Young Global Leaders for 2008 include 121 business leaders, as well as leaders from government, academia, the media and society at large from 65 countries. The new class represents all regions, including East Asia (64), Europe (58), the Middle East and North Africa (12), North America (45), South Asia (24), sub-Saharan Africa (21) and Latin America (21).

This year, Pakistan has received a remarkable recognition, Hina Rabbani Khar, the former Minister of State for Economic Affairs has been honored as the Young Global Leader for 2008. Ms. Munizae Jahangir, a Film Producer and Media Professional has also been bestowed with this honor.

Selection of Hina Rabbani Khar was made possible for her work in providing leadership role model for the Pakistani youth. Ms. Khar was also instrumental in promoting the competitiveness agenda in the country. She has been working closely with the Competitiveness Support Fund to improve Pakistan's global competitiveness. Ms. Khar has also represented Pakistan at various international forums, including the World Economic Forum's annual conference at Davos.

The Competitiveness Support Fund is the country partner institute of the World Economic Forum. CSF is a joint initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan.

"The World Economic Forum is a true multistakeholder community of global decision-makers. We need the Young Global Leaders to be a voice for the future in the global thought process and as a catalyst for initiatives in the global public interest," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global Leaders 2008 were chosen by a selection committee of 31 eminent international media leaders, including Thomas H. Glocer, Chief Executive Officer, Reuters, United Kingdom; Arthur Sulzberger, Chairman and Publisher, The New York Times, USA; Robert Thomson, Publisher, Dow Jones & Company and The Wall Street Journal, USA; and Hisashi Hieda, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fuji Television Network, Japan. The selection committee is chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The 2008 Young Global Leaders (YGL) nominated represented over 65 countries and included Vikram Akula, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, SKS Microfinance, India; Steffi Graf, Founder and Chairperson, 'Children for Tomorrow', Germany; Wadah Khanfar, Director-General, Al Jazeera Satellite Network, Qatar; Mugo Kibati, Group Chief Executive Officer, East African Cables, Kenya; Shakira Mebarak, Singer and Manager, Pies Descalzos Foundation, Colombia; and Michelle Peluso, Chief Executive Officer, Travelocity.com, USA; among others.

"All Young Global Leaders have been blessed with success in their fields and great responsibility at a very young age. The Forum of Young Global Leaders provides us with a broader perspective of life's problems at a macro level. The Forum challenges us to think about how we can give back to society and provides us a platform to reach the World Economic Forum's constituencies - providing precious access to global leaders who themselves are seeking ways to help fix our world," said Shai Agassi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Better, USA.

"It is our belief that this community of committed individuals can actually change the status quo. They are not only a preview of what effective, collaborative leadership in the 21st century might look like, they are actually putting it into practice today," said David Aikman, Senior Director and Head of The Forum of Young Global Leaders. "It is our privilege to work with such inspirational leaders and to bring them together in a global network that builds their insights and skills even further, providing them with a global platform to tackle the key challenges of our generation."

Established in 2004 by Professor Klaus Schwab, The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique, multistakeholder community of the world's most extraordinary young leaders, who dedicate a part of their time to jointly addressing global challenges and who are committed to devoting some of their knowledge and energy to collectively work towards a better future. As part of their engagement, the Young Global Leaders give their time to task forces to initiate, develop and drive innovative solutions on important, globally-oriented issues, including health, education, the environment, global governance and security, and development and poverty.

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