Foreign talent to make up for ‘unskilled’ bureaucrats

The federal cabinet has relaxed the public procurement legal framework to hire foreign consultancy firms to strengthen the hands of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in preparations for investment projects for the Gulf countries. The foreign consultancy firms will be hired for a period of five years as a replacement for Pakistani bureaucrats who are found lacking in project planning and execution, according to government sources. However, the decision will reflect poorly on the working of the bureaucracy, which could not provide quality assistance to the SIFC. The cabinet has approved a summary through circulation on the advice of the SIFC, which recommended granting exemption due to the poor capacity of Pakistan’s federal bureaucracy, confirmed a senior government official on Saturday. In case of circulation, the summary is approved without discussion in the regular cabinet meeting. The sources said that due to an incapacitated bureaucracy, Pakistan was struggling to prepare projects for investment by Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Kuwait. The development came a week after Pakistan offered highly lucrative returns to Saudi Arabia for getting a $5 billion investment. Pakistan has presented the enticing prospect of highly profitable returns to attract Saudi investment, with projected rates ranging from an appealing 14% to an astounding 50%. The maximum 50% return on the investment has been indicated for the Greenfield Mine Development, Khuzdar, project, which is said to be the third largest mining project after Reko Diq and Thar coal, according to the sources. The government was jubilant over its presentation to the Saudi delegation, which appreciated Islamabad’s preparedness compared to the past. However, the bureaucracy is not trained in certain skills and compared to the Pakistani delegation the Saudi Arabian delegation was far better prepared. One of the reasons for the lack of effective and efficient bureaucracy is that generalists are appointed as the secretaries of the economic ministries. These bureaucrats, mostly Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers, get expertise on the job and then they are moved to any other ministry. A federal secretary can at any time be appointed as secretary of finance, secretary of power, secretary planning, secretary board of investment and secretary of petroleum without a requisite set of expertise. Until recently, a federal secretary held positions as Secretary of the Board of Investment, then Secretary of Industry, and later served a brief tenure as secretary power before transitioning to the PM's Office. Similarly, in another case, the secretary education was posted as the secretary industry. The federal cabinet approved a special procurement process for the Programme for Engagement of Top Consulting Firms, according to the Cabinet Division officials. They said that an executive committee of the SIFC this week had recommended seeking an exemption of the procurement processes defined under the PPRA Ordinance and the rules and regulations to go for emergency hiring of foreign consulting firms. The SIFC executive committee deliberated upon the Special Programme for top foreign talent hiring. It, in the national interest, recommended to the federal government, that under section 10F of the Board of Investment Ordinance 2001, an exemption be granted for the special procurement process for the 5-Year Programme for Hiring Top Quality Consultants, from the applicable legal framework under the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance 2002. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has in the past raised concerns over the SIFC’s special powers to exempt any project or procurement from the PPRA law and rules. However, Pakistani authorities are of the view that the country cannot afford to spend four to six months just to hire consultants and that they have to take a fast-track route to get this technical expertise on priority. After relaxing the legal framework, the foreign consulting firms will be governed by the framework recommended by SIFC for approval of the federal cabinet, as well as any additional procedures approved for the Special Programme by the Special Joint Committee on Consulting Support. Pakistan on Friday decided to hire Mackenzie International for the digitisation of the FBR but the firm would be paid by the Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation. The sources said that PM Shehbaz Sharif wanted to further improve the project preparation process and directed to secure the approval of the cabinet through circulation. The foreign talent will be made available to any ministry of the federal government as well as the Board of Investment, the SIFC and the Public Private Partnership Authority. The programme will be in place for a period of five years from the date of approval by the federal government.  

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