The two-day international conference on ‘Governance, Management & HR: Strategic Directions’ organized by Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS), University of the Punjab (PU) and Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI), Planning & Development Department (P&DD), Government of the Punjab (GoPb) concluded with Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque (former deputy chairman of Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan) giving his opinion on governance and management, especially in the context of the Pakistani economy. Taking notes from his latest book, Dr. Nadeem discussed as to how formulating policies in a systematic way can strengthen the local economy. He went on to describe the importance of technology in improving governance, and that power devolution and efficient resource distribution was key to public management.
Over the course of two-days, the conference offered various perspectives on public sector management, human resource practices in academic institutions, the role of information technology (IT) in enhancing management processes, strategic opportunities via CPEC, diversity and inclusion in organizations, and ways in which leadership could improve the quality of human resource.
The second day commenced with keynote addresses by Prof. Geert Bouckaert (Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium), and Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal Jadoon (University of Houston) who talked about public management. Another keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Nezir Akyesilmen (Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Selcuk University, Turkey) discussed about cyber security and how governance was being affected by it.
The panel discussion on CPEC helped in identifying those areas in Punjab which require more attention, in terms of financial, physical, and administrative assistance. The healthy conversation among Dr. Ijaz Nabi (Country Director, International Growth Centre), Dr. Shahid Rashid (Executive Director, Centre of Excellence of CPEC, PIDE), Usman Khan and Hasaan Khawar (public policy expert) and the participants gauge the current CPEC related endeavors being carried out in the province and the likely gains to be made. Dr. Ijaz talked about the significance of Pakistan’s location on the world map and how both federal and provincial governments were realizing and developing strategies to make the most out of CPEC. If Pakistan utilizes CPEC related endeavors effectively, then it has much to gain. Dr. Shahid highlighted the major opportunities arising from CPEC and how the economy, with regards to employment, special economic zones (SEZs), power generation and trade liberalization, was expected to grow.
Dr. Mumtaz Anwar (Director, PERI), in his concluding remarks, expressed his gratitude to the guests and hoped that the conference proved to be an intellectually stimulating experience for all. He advised all the participants take away key insights from this conference, and build up on the learnings to enhance their research. He said the main purpose of the conference was to allow exchange of innovative ideas that would collectively improve the quality of upcoming research in Pakistan.
The Government of Punjab understands its responsibility towards public service delivery. Given this, many initiatives were being undertaken with a special focus to include information technology to enhance public sector governance, he added. The international conference came to a close with Dr. Nasira Jabeen (Director, IAS-PU) providing an overview of the proceedings of the past two days. She was extremely grateful to all the international speakers for coming all the way to Pakistan and sharing their knowledge. She also thanked the participants, presenters and guests. At the last, all the guest speakers appreciated the good efforts of PERI P&D & Punjab University to hold such results-oriented international conference at Lahore.