APO Secretary-General Ryuichiro Yamazaki spoke at the International Productivity Congress (IPC) held 17 and 18 November 2011 in Islamabad, Pakistan. More than 250 participants representing various industries from the public and private sectors attended. The IPC celebrated 50 years of the productivity movement in the Asia-Pacific and collaboration between the APO and National Productivity Organization (NPO) of Pakistan. Chief guest on the first day Muhammad Basharat Raja, Adviser to the Prime Minister, commended the APO and NPO for their tireless efforts to create awareness among Pakistani entrepreneurs of the need to improve productivity while achieving global competitiveness and excellence in quality through national and international training programs.

Secretary-General Yamazaki congratulated the government on launching the Prime Minister’s Quality Award, a first in Pakistan’s history, to honor organizations that attain world-class standards of business excellence. NPO CEO Khawaja Muhammad Yousuf stated that the NPO was moving in the right direction as it had contributed to a five-point improvement, to 17.7%, in the global productivity ranking of Pakistan. CEO Yousuf reported that despite the energy crisis in the country, the NPO had enhanced the capacity of 100 industrial units by 7% without investing a single rupee. He added that Pakistan could improve further by enhancing the capacity of industrial units. Although Pakistan’s energy shortage is acute, more efficient utilization could increase production.

Five individuals, including CEO Yousuf, received World Confederation of Productivity Science awards during the IPC to recognize their contributions to raising industrial productivity. The IPC 2011 concluded with a commitment by NPO and APO officials to expand their mission of productivity enhancement to additional economic arenas/areas.