Sajid Irfan

Human capital (skills) development is key to the economic growth of a country. Human capital includes technical skills, education, communication skills, creativity, experience, problem-solving skills, mental health, leadership qualities, personal resilience, etc.

It is the responsibility of a government to help its citizens attain these skills and participate in economic growth.

Ijaz Ali, an economist at the Centre of Business and Economic Research (CBER), Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, told WealthPk that human capital skills are one of the major sources of economic growth. “People will be more engaged and play their role in boosting economic growth if they have human capital skills.”

He further said that health and education are two major pillars of the economy, but unfortunately, both these sectors were lacking development in Pakistan. “In the past three decades, government spending on health and education has remained low. Pakistan’s spending on education has improved over time though, still the spending constitutes a very low percentage of GDP.”

He said the governments of other counties actively enhance human capital by offering higher education to people. “The government of Pakistan must improve the standards of educational institutions to suit the modern-day market needs. Provision of high-quality education to students helps them contribute significantly to economic development.”

“The health sector of Pakistan also needs improvement in terms of hospitals, doctors, medicines and other related equipment. In Pakistan's rural areas, especially Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there are no proper hospitals, and the people have no access to quality healthcare,” he pointed out.

He said that the government should increase funding for the health sector to make it better serve the people. Pakistan is one of the countries where life expectancy is abysmally low, which should be improved with investments in the health sector, he added.

Ijaz Ali said a well-developed information and communication technology sector (ICT) was imperative for increasing the economic growth as it expands its outreach and services to distant locations and increases labour productivity. He said it was heartening that Pakistan's ICT sector was booming, helping the country earn valuable foreign exchange through exports of services, while it was also promoting other sectors like digital health services and e-commerce.

The IBA economist suggested that Pakistan provide ample opportunities in smaller cities as the existing infrastructure such as technology parks were limited mostly to large cities. “Continuous professional development strategies and skills development policies are required to develop efficient human resource, which will help in promoting ICT-enabled services in Pakistan.”

Ijaz Ali said that training and skills development play a vital role in development. “The demand for vocationally-trained and technically-educated human resource rises with every step towards industrialisation and modernisation of production units and work premises. Pakistan has a favourable demographic location, which must be exploited properly. Public and private sectors should pursue demand-based policies that promote growth in human resource development.”

“Small-sized enterprises play a critical role in the economic growth of every nation, such as generating work opportunities, creating income and wealth, and reducing poverty. These enterprises are very common in less developed economies. SMEs have become preferred business entities. The government of Pakistan needs to provide better facilities to the business sector, which will help boost economic growth in the country,” he added.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk