ISLAMABAD, July 17: Adviser to the prime minister on Finance Salman Shah has said that efforts are underway to devise a comprehensive strategy to enhance the competitiveness of the private sector.

Addressing the consultative workshop on Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-II (PRSP-II) he said that a strong private sector development strategy would enable it to play an increasing role in driving growth and creating job opportunities.

He said the strategy would focus on lowering the barriers to development of small and medium enterprises, developing a modern financial sector with a view to providing a wide range of financial services, removing irritants and impediments to private sector growth, strengthening the country's physical and social infrastructure and ensuring consistency and continuity of economic policies.

He expressed the hope that all these measures would significantly improve Pakistan's investment climate and reduce the cost of doing business for private sector.

He was of the view that a forward looking private sector development strategy supported by a vastly improved regulatory environment, processes and procedures, would go a long way in freeing the private sector from constrains that impede its growth.

He said the strategy would enable the private sector to focus on productivity, innovation, growth and respond to opportunities in the national and global markets.

The adviser said that development of financial markets and institutions was also a critical and vital part of the economic growth process adding that financial sector and economic growth were empirically linked.

He said that realising the significance of the phenomena of demographic dividend for an emerging economy like Pakistan, the government had already initiated a large number of employment generation programmes to reap the benefits of the demographic transitions in the country.

He said these programmes include the recently launched National Internship Programme, establishment of a national Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC), increased budgetary support for social sector, especially education, health and population.

In addition, the government has launched self-employment scheme (Rozgar Scheme), Khushal Pakistan Programme and also taken many other initiatives.

He expressed the hope that the workshop participants would come up with substantive recommendations that could be readily integrated with the second generation poverty reduction strategy of the government.

He said that the workshop was in continuation of the series of consultative workshops held over the past one and a half years to solicit public opinion on various dimensions of the second generation poverty reduction strategy of the government.

He said that the thrust of the PRSP-II document would be on providing a strategic focus to a set of policies and strategies that would allow Pakistan to make full use of the demographic advantage.—APP