ISLAMABAD     -   The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 of the World Economic Forum has lauded the NAB efforts to make people aware about the ill effects of corruption in order to make Pakistan a corruption-free state.

This was said by Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Economic Progress System Initiative, here on Tuesday. 

Amir Jahangir while presenting the official copy of the Global Competitive Report of World Economic Forum to Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB, at the NAB headquarters here. 

On the occasion, Javed Iqbal thanked the World Economic Forum and Mishal Pakistan for their confidence and appreciation for the efforts undertaken by NAB in the last 12 months.

He said NAB is absolutely committed to eradicate corruption from the country by adopting the Accountability for All” Policy. NAB has made three pronged strategy -- Awareness, Prevention and Enforcement -- in order to aware people about the ill effects of corruption and to bring the corrupt elements to justice as per law

Earlier, Amir Jahangir briefed the Chairman NAB about the progress made by Pakistan on the Competitiveness 4.0 in the last 12 months. He said that, the country has made good progress on the institutions pillars”. A change of 2 ranks from 109 last year to 107 this year. The Institution pillar captures the progress on transparency, Security, property rights, social capital, checks and balances and ethics, performance of both the public-sector and corporate governance.

He said that NAB’s efforts and successful interventions have impacted in improving Pakistan’s competitiveness scorers, where organized white collar crime has improved 9 points i.e. from 121 in 2018 to 112 this year. The complaints of corruption have been reported more than the last year.

Due to this, moved 2 ranks from 99 last year to 101 this year. This is an improvement in scores from 32 to 33 this year compared to 2018. This also signifies the number of incidents being reported now as much more as compared to last year. A noteworthy improvement of public trust in NAB has increased in order to tackle national level accountability challenges. 

The Competitiveness 4.0 has evolved and to make countries more future ready for public policy delivery and ensure future challenges and complexities due to the ever-changing relations between governments and their citizens. Pakistan has made great progress on some of the indicators responsible for futures and foresight, especially on the “Government ensuring policy stability”, where Pakistan has been ranked at 80 among 141 countries globally. Suggesting Pakistan to continue its efforts on accountability for all and drive against corruption. 

The report also identifies that Pakistan needs to focus more on improving its “Legal framework’s adaptability to digital business models”, although Pakistan scores at 41 this year, lack of attention to digital businesses and cyber-security can impact the country in the future. This also includes cybercrimes and digital frauds and loss to public at large.

The report has adopted a new methodology for measuring Competitiveness 4.0. by including indices which represents more knowledge and digital-based ecosystems. The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0 provides a detailed map of the factors and attributes that drive productivity, growth and human development in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The 2019 edition covers 141 economies, which account for 99% of the world’s GDP.