ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: The government has finally decided that quality enhancement in production sector needed to be encouraged in Pakistan and those manufacturing higher quality products would be honoured at national level.

The government has decided that the first Prime Minister Quality Award (PMQA) will be granted on Dec 25, which will be the first award for the quality of production of business entrepreneurs, as previously the awards were given on the basis of sales made by the firms or the social service provided to the community.

A governing council for the PMQA has been formed, chaired by Advisor to Prime Minister on Industries Mohammad Basharat Raja, which held its first meeting here on Tuesday, and it was noted that it would be the first time in Pakistan that an award would be granted on business excellence at governmental level.

The council noted that doing business in Pakistan is not an easy task considering the conditions businessmen are confronted with these days.

It was decided that the award would be widely advertised to obtain nominations from entrepreneurs across the country.

The council was informed that since there was no previous experience of assessment of entrepreneurs for granting such awards at the governmental level, experts form Japan, Singapore and New Zealand were invited to train the assessors in Pakistan.

The assessment for the for PMQA followed a three-step course which included Independent Review of the applicants, Consensus Review and the site visits.

After a thorough assessment and mutual deliberations, the assessors would forward the list of qualified applicants to a panel of judges for final nomination for the award.

It was also agreed in the meeting that the number of judges which include Razzaq Dawood, Chairman Descon, Dr Ishrat Hussain, former Governor State Bank and Dr Junaid Jamshaid, LUMS, would be increased to five by including two members from the widely represented chambers of commerce and industry.