October 16, 2003	Thursday	Sha'aban 19, 1424

ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: Japan has offered Rs3 billion grant to establish regional and zonal technology support centres at different existing and prospective industrial estates for accelerating the process of industrialization and enhancing the technical potential in Pakistan.

Informed sources told Dawn here on Wednesday that Japan had agreed to extend Rs3 billion for the Rs4.5-billion project that seeks to offer necessary machinery, plants and equipments in the shape of grant.

The purpose is to particularly help produce highly-skilled workers and raise Pakistan’s industry to an international competitive level. Nevertheless, the sources said that Japan was still reluctant to restore $500 million annual assistance to Pakistan under the Yen Package Loan Programme, saying that Islamabad first needs to make its large $34 billion foreign debt sustainable.

“Japan has reservations against our nuclear programme and it also maintains that Pakistan’s foreign debt liabilities are very high,” a source said.

The project in question would help transfer technological know-how and train qualified skilled workmen in these centres to enable small and medium enterprises to produce advance stage components that are currently being imported. This will also help save precious foreign exchange and ensure maximization of local potential.

The project aims at providing advisory services to the industry and facilitation of the industry through research and development. This will cover designing, development and manufacturing of production tools like dies, moulds, jigs, fixtures, gauges and precision parts and provision of common facilities like casting, heat treatment, electroplating and surface treatment, etc., leading to strengthening of the government’s efforts in poverty alleviation, widening of engineering base and maximization of local potential.

The proposed regional and zonal technology support centres, working under the Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Centres (PITAC), will be located in all the four provinces, Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas. The government will provide funding for developing infrastructure facilities and other requirements in the proposed centres.

The proposed project will focus on development of human resources and to provide infrastructure for the growth of the industrial sector to make it globally competitive.

The project is expected to produce 2,000 trained skilled workers annually on its completion in each regional centre. Additionally, 200 persons would be trained at each zonal centre.