New initiatives to attract & retain top talent will be rolled out to secure Pakistan’s success: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD, April 03 (SABAH): Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting regarding the induction of technical advisors and consultants from the private sector into Public Sector.

“New initiatives to attract and retain top talent will be rolled out to secure Pakistan’s success” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.

“Pakistan must build a world-class talent pool because this is an age where talent makes all the difference to a nation’s success” – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said while chairing an important meeting on ways to create a more capable workforce that is able to deliver the government’s policy programme effectively, and also is founded on the principles of impartiality and recruitment on merit.

Prime Minister noted that the need to focus on attracting and retaining top talent, is as urgent and as important as is our focus on attracting and retaining 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 continued .

Prime Minister 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 is imperative if the civil service is 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 prevent a proper search for the best candidates, and pay inflexibility that makes it all difficult to attract the best talent, particularly in areas of skills shortages.

Minister for Finance and Revenue Federal Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Dr. Musadiq Malik, Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar Advocate, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Muhammad Jehanzeb , Minister of State Shaza Fatima Khawaja and high-level officials attended the meeting.