ISLAMABAD, May 18: President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday pledged support for promoting technical and vocational training across the country and approved a roadmap for improving quality and strength of the workforce.

He was speaking at a meeting of the National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (Navtec). The commission has been tasked to revamp vocational infrastructure and set up training centres in all parts of the country.

The president set a five-year timeframe to bring about improvement in the vocational and technical education system and stressed that its impact on national economy should be visible within a year.

He said the curriculum of these institutes should be improved to produce skilled workforce of international quality. It would not only create opportunities for people at the grassroots level but also raise their profile and meet the demand in advanced and industrialised countries, he added.

He said skilled workers were being produced in various institutions but their number was short of the country’s requirements in sectors of information technology, tourism, livestock, transport and medical transcription.

“We must harmonise skills of our younger generation in accordance with their local economic potential and, at the same time, be conscious of the need to meet the demand of international investors who see Pakistan as a favourable destination for using it as base for export to regional countries,” Gen Musharraf emphasised.

Ministers for education, industries and special initiatives, labour, manpower and overseas Pakistan and adviser to prime minister on finance attended the meeting.—APP