15 varsities conduct CSF survey

LAHORE - A ceremony to recognise the active participation of some 90 students from countries’ 15 highly reputed educational institutions in successfully conducting the CSF’s Executive Opinion Survey in Pakistan was held at a local hotel on Saturday.
The educational institutions include the University of Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), Kinnaird College, Lahore, Punjab University and Government College Lahore University.
The speakers at the ceremony appreciated the students’ performance to conduct this study and said the survey would reflect the voice of the business community in the coming Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 which is due in Oct.
They said the 2009-2010 survey started with a series of workshops conducted by CFS in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in February 2009 to educate students and share information on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report which presents a country’s ranking. Daud Sharif, Chief Operating Officer CSF, addressing the ceremony said that as part of capacity building, CSF engaged students from all over Pakistan to help conduct the survey as volunteers.
He said the Executive Opinion Survey, “The Voice of the Business Community” is a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report and provided the key ingredient that turns the report into a representative annual measure of a nation’s economic environment and its ability to achieve sustained growth. The survey gathers valuable information on a broad range of variables for which hard data sources are scare or nonexistent, he added.
He said that high-level business executives operating in Pakistan was surveyed to capture their opinion on the business environment in which they operate.
He told the audience that the survey was facilitated and assisted by Federation of Pakistani Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the Lahore Chambers of Commerce, Karachi Chambers of Commerce, Faisalabad Chambers of Commerce and the Pakistan Business Council.