Pakistan Link Headlines

Pak business sector rapidly builds capacity to meet global trade demands

LAHORE : No Pakistani shipment has so far been rejected because of the security compliance.

This was stated by the Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan while talking to the local media after addressing the seminar of Pakistan Compliance Initiative (PCI) on ‘security, social & environmental performance’ at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

He said that the PCI is a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together business, government and civil society to help the country’s enterprise sector ratchet up their business processes in line with globally recognised standards of supply chain integrity.

He underscored the government’s commitment to compliance with international business standards ensuring that Pakistan’s business sector rapidly builds its capacity to address emerging demands of global trade.

The seminar was attended by the country’s leading business leaders, from the export sector, heads of UN agencies in Pakistan, top federal government officers, key leaders of civil society organisations and representatives of leading foreign brand buyers.

Earlier, speaking at the seminar, Khan said that the compliance issues should not necessarily be deemed as part of WTO.

However, he said that the compliance issues would be more significant by 2005 and some countries may use them as a tool against their competitive countries.

The federal minister said that Pakistan has most of laws on social compliance, which are practical and enforceable under the changing trade regime.

He said the government was also planning to work on issue of standard compliance and hoped that the PCI could assist the government on this issue.

Speaking on the occasion, former Federal Commerce Minister and Chairman PCI Razak Dawood introduced the PCI to the participants and spoke about the goals and mission of PCI.

He said “We have mills in Pakistan that are absolutely world class. We just don’t have more of them. We are beginning now with factories in Karachi and Lahore, but will soon include other exporting regions like Sialkot, Faisalabad and others to join.” It was in Dawood’s tenure as commerce minister that compliance was made a part of the Trade Policy 2002.

lqbal Ebrahim of Al-Karam Textiles delivered a keynote address from the perspective of the industry and highlighted compliance as a business strategy.

President CSCC, an international compliance organisation, Greg Gardner described other compliance initiatives across the world and presented an international situation analysis of issues relating to compliance, with specific mention of C-TPAT the new supply chain security regime introduced by the United States.

Director of the International Labour Organisation Hans Lokollo also spoke on the Pakistan’s global compliance commitments and expectations from civil society.

Representative of the United Nations Development Organisation Onder Yucer addressed the gathering on the UN global compact, a major initiative of Secretary General Kofi Annan that involves the corporate sector in socially responsible interventions.

The PCI is a national organisation open to enterprises of all sizes and all sectors, duly licenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-profit body. The current membership, comprising Pakistan’s leading companies represents over 2 billion dollars worth of exports.

The PCI’s mandate is to expand its membership by promoting awareness of the current best practice and standards, propagate understanding of the need for compliance among companies, encourage participation in recognised programme, build capacities of company supply chains to become compliant as well as improve image of Pakistan exporters through effective global linkages.

PCI aims to build a credible programme for verifying the integrity of supply chains in Pakistan in line with globally recognised standards of security and social performance.

Dr Faiz Shah, CEO of PCI, describing the immediate targets of the organisation said our priority is to draft a national compliance standard that conforms to international benchmarks. Next we want to begin work on a national compliance database and finally a ranking system, which helps companies pace their progress on compliance systems on the one hand and allows buyers to identify business partners in Pakistan with confidence.’

Drawing legitimacy from multi-stakeholder participation and ensuring transparency of process that allows for independent random verification, PCI has the potential for immediately focusing buyers’ attention to Pakistan.

Lessons from the carpet and sporting goods industries during the 1990s show how critical it is for exporters to demonstrate compliance with buyer’s codes and standards of supply chain integrity. Today, even though entrepreneurs compete well in price, quality and service, they will need to respond effectively to buyer demand for “clean and green” supply chains.

With competitive market forcing a quota free world, Pakistani exporters will risk becoming incompetitive in the attempt to slash prices at the cost of social, environmental and security standards.

The crucial sectors such as cotton and textile products, leather, sports, and surgical goods manufactured by small enterprises, which are a source of almost 70 per cent of its foreign exchange earning, will stand to benefit from global opportunities as they move together towards total compliance with recognised standards of security, social and environmental performance.

The organisation aims for being a 100 per cent compliant export sector by 2010.


	Pak business sector rapidly builds capacity to meet global trade demands LAHORE : No Pakistani shipment has so far been rejected because of the security compliance. This was stated by the Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan while talking to the local media after addressing the seminar of Pakistan Compliance Initiative (PCI) on ‘security, social & environmental performance’ at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He said that the PCI is a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together business, government and civil society to help the country’s enterprise sector ratchet up their business processes in line with globally recognised standards of supply chain integrity. He underscored the government’s commitment to compliance with international business standards ensuring that Pakistan’s business sector rapidly builds its capacity to address emerging demands of global trade. The seminar was attended by the country’s leading business leaders, from the export sector, heads of UN agencies in Pakistan, top federal government officers, key leaders of civil society organisations and representatives of leading foreign brand buyers. Earlier, speaking at the seminar, Khan said that the compliance issues should not necessarily be deemed as part of WTO. However, he said that the compliance issues would be more significant by 2005 and some countries may use them as a tool against their competitive countries. The federal minister said that Pakistan has most of laws on social compliance, which are practical and enforceable under the changing trade regime. He said the government was also planning to work on issue of standard compliance and hoped that the PCI could assist the government on this issue. Speaking on the occasion, former Federal Commerce Minister and Chairman PCI Razak Dawood introduced the PCI to the participants and spoke about the goals and mission of PCI. He said “We have mills in Pakistan that are absolutely world class. We just don’t have more of them. We are beginning now with factories in Karachi and Lahore, but will soon include other exporting regions like Sialkot, Faisalabad and others to join.” It was in Dawood’s tenure as commerce minister that compliance was made a part of the Trade Policy 2002. lqbal Ebrahim of Al-Karam Textiles delivered a keynote address from the perspective of the industry and highlighted compliance as a business strategy. President CSCC, an international compliance organisation, Greg Gardner described other compliance initiatives across the world and presented an international situation analysis of issues relating to compliance, with specific mention of C-TPAT the new supply chain security regime introduced by the United States. Director of the International Labour Organisation Hans Lokollo also spoke on the Pakistan’s global compliance commitments and expectations from civil society. Representative of the United Nations Development Organisation Onder Yucer addressed the gathering on the UN global compact, a major initiative of Secretary General Kofi Annan that involves the corporate sector in socially responsible interventions. The PCI is a national organisation open to enterprises of all sizes and all sectors, duly licenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-profit body. The current membership, comprising Pakistan’s leading companies represents over 2 billion dollars worth of exports. The PCI’s mandate is to expand its membership by promoting awareness of the current best practice and standards, propagate understanding of the need for compliance among companies, encourage participation in recognised programme, build capacities of company supply chains to become compliant as well as improve image of Pakistan exporters through effective global linkages. PCI aims to build a credible programme for verifying the integrity of supply chains in Pakistan in line with globally recognised standards of security and social performance. Dr Faiz Shah, CEO of PCI, describing the immediate targets of the organisation said our priority is to draft a national compliance standard that conforms to international benchmarks. Next we want to begin work on a national compliance database and finally a ranking system, which helps companies pace their progress on compliance systems on the one hand and allows buyers to identify business partners in Pakistan with confidence.’ Drawing legitimacy from multi-stakeholder participation and ensuring transparency of process that allows for independent random verification, PCI has the potential for immediately focusing buyers’ attention to Pakistan. Lessons from the carpet and sporting goods industries during the 1990s show how critical it is for exporters to demonstrate compliance with buyer’s codes and standards of supply chain integrity. Today, even though entrepreneurs compete well in price, quality and service, they will need to respond effectively to buyer demand for “clean and green” supply chains. With competitive market forcing a quota free world, Pakistani exporters will risk becoming incompetitive in the attempt to slash prices at the cost of social, environmental and security standards. The crucial sectors such as cotton and textile products, leather, sports, and surgical goods manufactured by small enterprises, which are a source of almost 70 per cent of its foreign exchange earning, will stand to benefit from global opportunities as they move together towards total compliance with recognised standards of security, social and environmental performance. The organisation aims for being a 100 per cent compliant export sector by 2010.
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