To accept the challenges of the fast growing world and to emerge as an economically strong nation, Pakistan will have to focus on the human resource development.

Coherent National policy needs to be adopted for the development of required human resource in the country to find a way forward. Especially demand driven capacity building programs and trainings should be undertaken to cope up with the emerging requirements in different sectors, said Mahfooz Elahi, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry while addressing the Human Resource Committee at ICCI. 

Right technical education and vocational trainings are key drivers for Pakistan’s economic growth and this sector needs much improvement in building a skillful and productive workforce to improve its competitiveness in global world, he added.

Demand driven trainings and imparting skills both in the formal and informal sectors can become a driving force for an effective contribution in the national development of the country.

He citing the example of productivity growth, he said that Pakistan has only 0.78 percent productivity growth since two decades against 4.07 in China, 1.34 in India, 4.02 in Thailand and 1.50 in Vietnam, adding that GDP per labor grew by 7.73 percent in China, 3.35 in India, 3.59 in Thailand, 4.08 in Vietnam and only 1.84 in Pakistan during couple of decades.

Elahi said that Pakistan’s vocational training institutes must carry out surveys to find out the human resource requirements in different sectors and redesign the courses and training programs accordingly to bridge the gap between demand and supply of human resource.

He said that developing nations are spending a large amount of money on the education sector, whereas unfortunately in Pakistan, sufficient amount is not allocated on education, eventually our country was unable to produce much needed human capital.

President ICCI suggested that in the coming budget government must increase amount on education and also Commission may be formed to look with public-private representation to chalk out a strategy for human resource development in the country.