KARACHI: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) concluded series of the first-ever Skills Olympics of Pakistan, which tested the skills of auto parts manufacturing industry employees.
SMEDA and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) had been executing a 4-year comprehensive “Technical Support Program for Auto Parts Manufacturing Industry” since 2015.
The program, with the involvement of over 50 auto parts manufacturing concerns in the country under the guidance of five Japanese experts has added Japanese expertise in the quality production of auto parts.
CEO SMEDA Sher Ayub Khan said that the 1st Skills Olympic had involved workers from participating auto parts suppliers, who competed under 11 diverse technical skills including welding, painting, cutting and machining, surface finish, parts inspection, fork lifter driving etc.
“The tasks in the competitions were designed by the Japanese experts in line with international best practices,” he said and hoped that similar initiatives would be organized by the sector stakeholders in future in collaboration with SMEDA.
He expressed special thanks to JICA for their continued support to SMEDA in the development of SMEs of Pakistan and also commended the hard work put in by the Japanese experts, SMEDA and PAAPAM teams for making this event a success.
Katsunori Ashida, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of Japan, in his address, assured to continue his support for development of SMEs in Pakistan, a statement said.
Ms. Onoe, Senior Representative Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Pakistan, expressed satisfaction over the keen interest of employers as well employees of the local auto industry to learn modern techniques of the manufacturing skills. [the_ad id=”31605″]