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USAID marks successful closure of PIDAS projects
Observer Report
Islamabad—The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
marked the closing of its four-year $ 11.3 million Pakistan
Initiative for Strategic Development and Competitiveness project (PISDAC)
after registering “significant achievements” here Wednesday.
To mark this event, USAID-PISDAC organized at one-day conference on
“Sharing best practices and lessons learned for creating value
together” here at a local hotel. Dr.Warren Weinstein , Chief of
Party, JE Austin, Kevin Murphy , President and CEO JE Austin and
Acting Director USAID Edward Birgells also spoke on the occasion.
The ceremony was attended by manufacturers, exporters, academics,
and others that have participated in the project.
These Strategy Working Groups focused on sectors including gems and
jewelry, marble and granite, dairy, furniture, surgical instruments
and medical devices, and horticulture. Kevin Murphy, on the occasion
provided an overview of a framework for building national
competitiveness that represents the latest thinking, followed by how
PISDAC projects fit into this overall framework.
Speaking on the occasion Edward Birgells, said that providing
economic opportunities for all Pakistanis is fundamental in building
a solid and sustainable foundation for continued economic growth,
prosperity, and peace. “Business leaders working through the
USAID-PISDAC programme have already made significant achievements by
working with each other to improve their products, increase their
exports, and develop a more qualified workforce”, he remarked.
The other speakers lauded the efforts of PISDAC which has set a
unique precedent by successfully facilitating and developing
economic growth strategies in six very different industrial sectors.
Initiated in 2004 and implemented by J.E. Austin Associates,
USAID-PISDAC has partnered with Pakistani industries to create a
self-sustaining process to increase their exports. Support for
PISDAC is part of the $ 1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. is
providing to Pakistan, through USAID, over five years to improve
economic growth, education, health, and governance, and for quake
reconstruction.
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