LAHORE: National Productivity Organization (NPO) arranged an awareness conference ‘Implementation of Productivity Improvement: Competitive Reinforcement Initiative (CRI)’ to discuss the ways and means for enhancing industrial production in the country, at a local hotel on Monday.
Addressing the conference, the NPO Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Alamgir Chaudhry said that NPO had worked out various initiatives aimed at enhancing the industrial production in the country and improving internal supply chain. “We have started series of such awareness sessions with different industrial sectors with prime objective to bring improvements in various stages including planning, design and manufacturing etc. in the industry, and the current awareness session is focused on sectors of leather, footwear and auto,” he said.
Alamgir Chaudhry mentioned that these awareness sessions were being proved helpful in improving productivity of various industries, adding that NPO was also supporting and guiding the industrialists to ensure up to the mark production that would not only help increase country’s export base but also overcome the prevailing trade deficit.
The CEO said that Pakistan was among top ten countries of the world with regard to milk and wheat production, while its coal, mineral and other mega resources were yet to be exploited up to their potential. He mentioned that Pakistan now lagged behind even those countries including Malaya, South Korea, India and Bangladesh, which had been equal or behind Pakistan on economic front in 1960s, adding that it was an eye-opener for and there was a dire need to study and adopt their economic growth strategies. “We have to remove our technological inefficiencies in the industrial sector to compete in the global market,” he suggested.
In his address, Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC) Managing Director Muhammad Asim Javed said that long pending plans for promotion of the industry could be implemented due to joint initiatives of the NPO and the PSIC. Though Pakistan was among top countries in milk, wheat and various other commodities and industrial products, its growth in these sectors was still slow for which ‘we have to identify the loopholes and gaps in this regard and then take speedy and appropriate measures to remove those shortcomings.’
Asim Javed stressed the need for promoting and adopting modern technology and energy-efficient machines, besides enhancing the labour’s capacity and skills, adding that these steps would definitely reduce the industrial input cost thus making Pakistani exportable merchantiles competitive in the international market. He asserted that Pakistan could also improve and enhance its productivity by implementing research works, technological interventions and introducing innovations. “We should also give impetus to our exports and economy by studying the strategies and work areas of the successful countries and implementing those in respective industrial sectors,” he maintained.
He mentioned, “Pakistan has great potential in the human resource and by equipping the HR with full and semi skills, we can not only fulfill the demand for local labourers but also send the surplus labour force abroad that will increase foreign remittances to Pakistan.”
During the conference, Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) former chairman Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Chairman Mubashir Naseer Butt and Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA) Secretary General Col. (Retd.) Ahamd Fawad Farooq gave detailed presentations on their respective sectors.