The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in a bid to further improve industry-academia linkages.
According to a statement issued here on Friday, a signing ceremony was held at the chamber’s house in which SCCI President Muhammad Ishaq and Director Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC) UET Peshawar Dr Nasru Minallah inked the MoU.
Senior SCCI Advisory Committee member Dr Khalid Khan, Manager University Industry Linkage, UET Dr Tariq Khalil, Office Manager Dr Jawad Ali Shah and others were present.
Ishaq termed the signing of the MoU with UET a milestone step towards strengthening industry-academia linkages, saying the SCCI started a series of MoUs with public and private sector universities.
He elaborated that the MoU aimed at equipping graduates and young students with technical skills besides the completion of their academic pursuits so that it would enable them to get instant employment opportunities.
The SCCI president apprised the meeting that the chamber had recently inked a memorandum of corporation (MoC) with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) under German Organisation (GIZ) Tevta Support Programme.
Under the GIZ Tevta Support Programme, he said, the SCCI and Tevta would jointly conduct capacity building and job training sessions to bring improvement in youths/graduates skills and ensure their job placement in various trade organisations and industries.
Talking about the SCCI 2.0 programme, Ishaq informed that the chamber was going to launch this programme very shortly, which was the first-ever initiative taken by the SCCI in Pakistan under which the chamber would be developed on modern lines by equipping it with complete digitisation and bringing it up to modern standards.
The SCCI chief said there was a lack of entrepreneurship in the province, saying: “Our youth is highly skillful and capable to excel in every field.”
He, however, said there was a need to provide youth with a proper platform to utilise their abilities efficiently and continue playing a role in the country’s economic prosperity and progress.
On the current state of Pakistan’s economy, Ishaq said the industries and businesses were in severe crisis owing to multiple reasons and inconsistent policies.
The SCCI president informed that currently industries were working 10 to 20 per cent of their installed capacity under the prevailing circumstances.
Ishaq remarked immense natural and mineral reserves existed in K-P, in which gemstone, mining, and marble were at the top.
He added that the SCCI had taken initiatives for promotion of the gemstone sector. The SCCI chief called for tapping natural reserves and resources in an efficient manner to bring economic stability and improvement.
Earlier, ORIC UET Peshawar Director Minallah and Manager University Industry Linkage, UET Peshawar Khalil briefed the chamber president regarding various projects that were initiated by their department.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2023.
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