ISLAMABAD, Apr 03 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that new initiatives to attract and retain top talent would be rolled out to secure Pakistan’s success and stressed that Pakistan must build a world-class talent pool because this was an age where talent made all the difference to a nation’s success.
The prime minister chaired a meeting regarding the induction of technical advisors and consultants from the private sector into public sector, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
Federal Ministers Muhammad Aurangzeb, Dr. Musadiq Malik, Ahad Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Sardar Awais Leghari, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Muhammad Jehanzeb, Minister of State Shaza Fatima and high-level officials attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed ways to create a more capable workforce that could be able to deliver the government’s policy programme effectively, and also founded on the principles of impartiality and recruitment on merit.
The prime minister noted that the need to focus on attracting and retaining top talent was as urgent and as important as their focus on investments in the country. “Businesses want to invest in places where the talent is; where the politics and policies are stable, and where the system works”, he added.
He also appointed a committee under the chairmanship of finance minister to seek and firm up propositions in the policy to enhance and clarify the work pass framework currently in vogue in ministries to better support Pakistan’s need for talent with the directions to submit its findings at the earliest.
The meeting noted a dearth of technical input at policy making levels and emphasized its need, which was imperative if the civil service was to develop new skills, improve its management of big projects and adapt to the demands of a digital age.
The participants of the meeting highlighted barriers to appointing people from outside such as long timescales, processes that prevented a proper search for the best candidates and pay inflexibility that made it all difficult to attract the best talent, particularly in areas of skills shortages.
