Need for skilled labour underscored
The need for highly-trained manpower should be met before ‘relocation’ of Chinese industries under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, said President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Engineer Hafiz Ehtesham Javed.
Addressing a meeting of the FCCI Standing Committee on CPEC, he said on Sunday that under the giant initiative, China was shifting some of its state-of-the-art industrial enterprises to our Export Processing Zones (EPZ) including Allama Iqbal EPZ in Faisalabad. “Work on export processing zone of Faisalabad was in full swing and it is expected that the phase of setting up industries in it would begin soon. Modern technology based industries would be set up in this zone so that their surplus produce could also be exported.”
In order to meet needs of these industries, we must focus on preparation of our manpower immediately, he stated. “Our idea and thoughts in this regard should be very broad so that highly trained manpower can be prepared and sent abroad. In this way, we will not only solve our unemployment problem but foreign remittances can also be increased.”
He called for introduction of training courses for existing manpower as well as for newly educated youth through which the economy’s future needs in terms of manpower could be met.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2020.