Unemployed manpower can be made effective through technical training

President Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) Shah Faisal Afridi said
that Pakistan can make its unemployed manpower effective in the current scenario by providing
technical training in industry related work ambits.
He stated this after having a meeting with Yuan lee, General Manager Shandong Shifeng Group
Co, Ltd and Tony Niu, Business Manager at International Trade Department, Shandong Shifeng
Group has said that China is witnessing economic transformation at a massive scale by following
the European model of relocating part of its manufacturing sector to economically viable places
that offer skilled labour at cheap wages.
Afridi was confident that Pakistan can attract Chinese manufacturing sector by developing a
trained workforce for industries. He termed this phenomenon as a great industrial transfer, which
has brought in plenty of opportunities also for Pakistan. President PCJCCI explicated that
Pakistan has the 9th largest labour force in the world. According to the Labour Force Survey
2013-14, the total labour force in the country is 57.24 million. Out of this 3.40 million people are
unemployed and rest are employed to places that do not suite to their area of expertise, he added.
He further pointed that export of quality manpower is the main driver in growth of remittances;
therefore the structure of existing population of Pakistan shows that the country has 60 percent
economically active population or work force which can prove to be a productive asset of the
country if properly trained through skill development programmes.
Faisal Afridi said that China is ready to assist Pakistan also in empowering its labour force in
accordance with its industrial requirements through the formation of collaborative Research
institutes and capacity building organisations that would impart vocational training Chinese work
ethics including language and communication to the Pakistani labour.
China would establish such training institutes in Pakistan that would keep themselves in touch
with the ongoing industrial trends, getting their input on the kind of workforce it requires, the
institutes would be empowered enough to have machines, tools and technology used by textile,
pharmaceuticals and surgical industries to ensure a well trained and competent labour force for
future consumption, he added.
Afridi urged the government to take immediate steps to modify and empower existing vocational
training institutes like Tevta. Currently, Tevta enrolls around 120,000 students in its technical
training institutes, while the demand in the market is over one million, said Afridi and pointed
out that the government of Pakistan needs to invest in skilled workers to bridge the imbalances
that occur due to inadequacy in human resource development.