Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Prof Dr Nizamuddin has said that economic development cannot take place without introducing a decentralised system in decision process.

He was addressing the inaugural session of two-day international conference on ‘Governance, Management and Human Resource: Strategic Directions’.

The conference was jointly organised by the Punjab University Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS) and the Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI) at a hotel on Tuesday.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zakria Zakar, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences Dean Prof Dr Nasira Jabeen, PERI Director Dr Mumtaz Anwar, Prof Tom Christensen from University of Oslo, Prof Evan Berman from Victoria University of Wellington, delegates from various parts of the world, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.

Prof Dr Nizamuddin said that research could contribute to improve governance and develop human resource. He said that attention must be paid to such conferences for economic growth in Punjab. “We must prepare comprehensive policies for the success of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which was a game changer in the region.” He said that the Punjab Higher Education Commission and universities were playing an important role for initiating debates on public policy.

In his address, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zakria Zakar said, “We need to promote innovative ideas and such conferences enhance our international connectivity.” He said governance was linked to human resource and it was need of the hour to focus on human resource development for the progress of the country.

“Our youth are living in isolation and such conferences provide them an opportunity for cross cultural understanding and exchange knowledge and experiences,” he said, adding that participation of academicians from across the globe provide a diverse pool of ideas. He said that the conference would provide some innovative ideas to improve functioning of the state and its organisations.

Prof Dr Nasira Jabeen said the objective of the conference was to generate a healthy discussion on CPEC, its socio-economic impact and challenges it posed to the governance, management and HR practices in Pakistan.

Dr Mumtaz Anwar said that investing in human resource was central to governance and management.

In the session, Prof Christensen delivered a lecture on ‘comparative university governance reforms- perspectives and experiences’, while Prof Berman delivered a lecture on ‘innovations in public sector reforms in Asia: implications for HR’ and shared their thoughts on improving governance and developing human resource. A total of 72 research papers have been selected out of 200 abstracts received for presentation at the conference. The conference will continue today.

Published in Daily Times, March 21^st 2018.