Experts at a consultative session underscored the need of equipping business community with modern techniques and methods for advancement in businesses and industries that would not only help to meet growing competitiveness in local and global markets but could also stabilize the fragile national economy. It is vital to equip business community with latest technology and tools to compete at local as well global market and bring stability in the country’ economy, says Muhammad Ishaq, president Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry while addressing at a concluding session to a two-day training/consultative session titled: Industrial-Academic Linkage -Trainings (WBT) and Placements that was jointly organized by SCCI and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Authority (KP-TEVTA), with technical and financial support of GIZ – German development agency.. According to a press release issued here on Thursday, Faiz Muhammad, GIZ/KP TEVTA consultant elaborated participants about the main objectives of the consultative session and apprised about growing needs of using modern tools and methods for business and industrial advancement/upgradation, which, according to him, has become dire need of the hours amid increasing competitiveness local and global markets. SCCI former president, Haji Muhammad Afzal, executive members, Haji Ghulam Hussain, Munawar Khurshid, Lala Badshah, Javed Ahmad, Ms Qurtul Ain, All Pakistan Commercial Exporters Association Chairman S Minhajuddin, SIE Kohat Association President Wahid Arif Awan, businessmen attached with various sectors from Peshawar, Nowshera, Mohmand and other parts of the province were participated in the two-day session. Ishaq said the utilization of new techniques is vital for development of business and industries. He stressed the need for taking pragmatic initiatives to arrange on-jobs training and capacity building sessions to enhance professional/technical skills of human resource, workforce to meet increasing challenges. The SCCI chief highlighted importance of on-job training and informative sessions, saying that such programmes would provide availability of skilled and well-trained workforce, human resources. Ishaq said while keeping in view the keen interest and participation of the business community, the SCCI has designed a holistic plan to conduct such training sessions to enhance capacity/skills of the members of the community in future. He called for strengthening industry-academic linkages, adding that universities/educational institutions need to be focused on development of pupils’ technical skills in order to compete with the increasing market requirements. The SCCI chief disclosed the proposed plan would bring positive changes through which all facilities, incentives and issues would be resolved on priority basis.