EDITORIAL (May 07 2009): According to a Business Recorder exclusive the government has appointed ten officers to be stationed in ten attractive capitals of the world with the explicit responsibility for promoting Pakistani exports - men who have neither the necessary qualifications nor the pertinent experience.
This raises the ugly spectre of nepotism yet again and in no way defuses the general perception that the repeated claims of the present government, including those of Prime Minister Gilani that all appointments are being made on merit are, simply, rhetoric.
Few would argue with the need to proactively support Pakistani exports in all the capitals of the world as a means to generate higher foreign exchange earnings, and, in turn, oil the wheels of domestic industry, thereby reducing our current dependence on external assistance.
In addition all other countries, developed and developing alike, do support trade commissioners in their embassies who are charged with the responsibility of promoting exports. Thus the posts themselves are not in dispute. What is clearly in dispute is the fact that selection has been made on the basis of 'influence' of the candidates which has to be invoked yet again in order to get a more 'desirable' foreign station.
Those who may conclude from the appointments of the '10' that there is no process in place designed specifically to ensure that selections are on merit do not know the way poor governance has manifested itself in this country.
In Pakistan the processes reflecting best international practice are in place; what is not in place is the intent of the selectors and that is why this country continues to emit an aura of poor governance that was cited by many a would-be donor as the major constraint towards extending assistance without the International Monetary Fund (IMF) monitoring process in place.
However some improvements in the system with respect to the selection of trade commissioners to be stationed abroad may minimise the prospect of nepotism. The process for selection of the trade commissioners requires a written test at Lahore University of Management Sciences; only those who pass this test are called for an interview.
However, the selection of the candidates to sit in the examination is made by the Ministry of Commerce. The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), the successor of Export Promotion Bureau has the terms of reference to better deal with export promotion.
The fact that TDAP is headed by a nine-member executive board and chaired by the Commerce Minister would automatically ensure the involvement of the Commerce Ministry but initial selection should be made by the more relevant agency, ie, TDAP. In addition the candidate's educational background as well as documented experience in the field must be considered as the sole basis for selection.
After the appointment a rigorous record must be kept to highlight each appointed person's performance with respect to an increase in exports to a particular country. Failure to meet the target should automatically result in being recalled after a specified period of time and not be used as a means to get another favourable appointment.
But as mentioned above nepotism will be effectively discouraged only when the Executive is seen demonstrating sincerity of purpose aimed at effecting good governance. In the present instance one can only hope that Prime Minister Gilani, with the ultimate authority to approve the selection, revisits these ten selections without any further loss of time.
