The Ministry of Commerce has taken a major initiative to export skilled and well-trained manpower to the Gulf countries under 'Skill Development and Placement Program'. This was stated by Minister for Commerce Amin Fahim here on Wednesday at a press briefing about the first pilot project of the Ministry of Commerce and Royal Group of Companies.
Secretary, Commerce, Zafar Mahmood and a delegation of Royal Group of Companies, headed by its Chairman, were also present at the press briefing. The Minister said that his Ministry is keen to boost the export sector of Pakistan and this time a comprehensive program in the services export sector has been devised by it and Royal Emirates Group of Companies.
Zafar Mahmood gave details of the first pilot project in a presentation to media persons. He said that majority of labour exported is either unskilled or lack the required skills. Resultantly, they are considered less productive and are paid less as compared to labour from other countries. The Ministry has been working on this programme for the last one-and-a-half years and had held a number of meetings with foreign companies, trade officers abroad and local partners. "The Ministry of Commerce has taken an initiative to invite investors from abroad to develop an organised, demand-driven skills development programme in collaboration with public/private sector in Pakistan", he said.
According to the terms of engagement for this programme, foreign investors will carry out a survey of the labour market and identify the demand for particular skills, prepare training modules, open training institutes in Pakistan, and then it will also ensure placement of the trained workers in the Gulf countries. The Royal Group of Companies has agreed to undertake a project in line with the terms of engagement to train husband and wife duo in household services to be placed in Gulf countries by opening Pak-Arab Skill Development Centre in Pakistan. The project has been designed to be implemented in collaboration with Tevta, Punjab.
In his message, the Chairman of Royal Group of Companies, Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, welcomed this initiative and the idea of working with Pakistan government to help in achieving their objectives of human resource development and placement. RGC delegation dilated upon the scope of the project and training modules for both female and male candidates. The project will comprise eight phases from the development of selection criteria for potential candidates and establishing training centres in Pakistan/UAE to the final phase of their placement in UAE and other target markets.
As far as training modules and course contents are concerned, these will be different for both males and females depending upon the nature of job-demand in Gulf countries. Thus, female candidates shall be given training in the household work like personal hygiene, cooking and food serving, professional laundry and infant/elderly care, etc. Likewise, the male candidates shall be given training in gardening and driving. It was learnt during the presentation.
It is hoped that the skill development and placement programme will prove to be a milestone in the manpower export sector of Pakistan. Responding to a query on Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), Amin Fahim categorically said that Pakistan would not allow India to trade with Afghanistan by using its land routes under the new transit trade agreement. However, Pakistan has only allowed the Afghan businessmen to send their goods to India through land route as per the conditions of the APTTA. He said that the Indian Secretary of Commerce will soon visit Pakistan to discuss bilateral trade for enhancing trade between the two countries. The list of goods would also be reviewed during the upcoming meetings, he added.
Comments
Comments are closed.