November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

KARACHI, Nov 29: M. Muslim Abbasi, Chairman of the Chief Minister’s Investment Cell, said here on Wednesday that the provincial government would soon launch Sindh Bank which would work inline with other provincial banks and stay focused towards financial needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking at a “business standards roundtable” sponsored by the National Institute for Competitiveness (NIC), Mr Abbasi said that like Khyber, Bolan and Punjab Banks, Sindh will also have its own bank.

“Social and environmental standards and their codes were need of the hour for our country in order to safeguard competitiveness in a climate of progressive globalisation, lower labour costs and other decisive factors,” he added.

Narrating some of the objectives, he said the chief minister’s cell is striving hard to attract foreign direct investment, mobilise domestic and foreign investment, enhance exports in all sectors and create job opportunities at all levels to alleviate poverty.

The CMIC, Mr Abbasi said, was striving hard to empower the province to become hub of investment by attracting more and more investment, utilisation of human resources and facilitate trade and industry through one-window operation.

National Institute for Competitiveness Chairman Saquib Mohyddin said the objective of holding national round tables was to raise awareness of issues concerning social and environmental standards by involving stakeholders in the dialogue.

The implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSP) and environmental standards is of immense importance not only to the exporting countries but also to the importing countries, especially to European market because of the pressing demand of consumers.

Consequently, Mr Mohyddin said that the NIC had been given the task from the GTZ head office for initiating and establishing national roundtable in supplier countries on behalf of the German ministry of economic cooperation and development (BMZ).

However, he said that ultimate success of any national CSR programme depended upon the way Pakistani stakeholders utilised their own enormous experience and practical knowledge to create a credible and internationally compatible and recognised process of ensuring supply chain integrity of all products and services emanating from Pakistan.

There is a need to develop a uniform code of conduct based on internationally accepted guidelines, such as the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the SA 8000 standard, the AVE and BSCI for business compliance. The NIC chief said the aim was to identify shortcomings, understand local conditions and determine the need for corrective action.

He disclosed that the next roundtable conference would be held in Sialkot and NIC was inviting a speaker form the Commonwealth Business Council who had immense experience in developing the Japanese code of ethics.

Union of Small and Medium Enterprises President Zulfiqar Thaver said that SMEs played a vital role in economic development of the country but they were not being given due attention and government support was insufficient.

He said that medium size enterprises had attained some growth in Pakistan but small size setups were still far behind and were shy and needed to be motivated by extending full support and encouragement.

Mr Thaver said SMEs were confronted with three basic issues -- land, mark-up rate and raw material -- which should be made available at subsidised rates.