KARACHI, June 4: The government is providing more than a billion rupees in next five years to the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) for purchase of equipments, training human capital and upgrading the present facilities of the complexes including Karachi complex as the lead manager for the whole programme.

Dr Tanzeel H Usmani, the Director General of the PCSIR in his opening remarks while addressing the third meeting of the Board of Management recently at Karachi expressed the hope that the financial injection would help the council to attain sustainable growth by increasing the earnings to support financed management in the future.

“About 30 years ago, there were 64 PhDs with no fund or little fund to do research,” the Director General recalled while pointing out that “today we have funds, but have to provide matching human capital with experience, knowledge and of accredited names in science and technology.”

He informed the participants that projects in the public interests like the survey of food items, drinking items were also initiated which would help the regulatory governance to put tangible ban of such goods that were not fit for human consumption and should help in improving the image of PCSIR as a consumer friendly institution.

“Some 74 processes have been developed which can be commercialised for gains by the private sector and are available at competitive prices,” he disclosed. Moreover, 37 reports for small entrepreneurs have been prepared on requests and 66 parameters of tests have been accredited by ISO 17025 qualifications, he added.

Dr Usmani said that the on going efforts in textile laboratory and other programmes under industrial linkage would increase the parameters to 122. He informed the participants of two-fold effect of PCSIR working that is to protect the consumer rights through fore-warnings and the use of materials that affected the health and life of consumers.

The second aspect, he elaborated, was to help push up exports through localization of tests for satisfying the overseas buyers. Dr Usmani declared that this would increase the export business by complying with technical barriers to the trade, an agreement of WTO binding for nearly 150 members.