APO News

I. NPO/APO/PARC successfully concludes 5-day International Training Course on Organic Farming, Production and Inspection at Islamabad

The National Productivity Organization, Ministry of Industries & Production, Government of Pakistan, concluded successfully a 5-day training workshop on Organic Farming, Production and Inspection  held from April 21-25, 2008 at Islamabad in collaboration with PARC and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), Japan. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Ishfaq A. Sheikh, Representative of NPO, while welcoming the local and international delegates, the resource speakers, the collaborators in the wrap up session conveyed his sincere thanks to Dr. Kausar Abdullah Malik, Member (Agriculture), Planning Commission, for making it convenient to grace the occasion as the chief guest. 

This is the fifth training workshop held in Pakistan in collaboration with PARC and the APO, Japan and the sixth and final workshop on Post Harvest is scheduled to be held here from 2-7 June 2008.  Mr. Ishfaq Sheikh, on behalf of Mr. Tariq Bajwa, CEO, NPO,  mentioned that during this collaboration, both the NPO and PARC have developed very good working relationship and hoped that this will not only continue but further strengthen over a period of time.  He appreciated the cooperation of all the delegates who have taken keen interest in 5-day deliberations and benefited from the training program, gained knowledge from the Trainers and advised them to share the same with colleagues of their respective countries to ensure its multiplier impact. He extended his sincere thanks to the international and local resource speakers for imparting skills and knowledge to the participants on the topic, very important for Pakistan and many other APO member countries. He communicated his sincere thanks to Messrs. Qarshi International Research Laboratories for allowing the participants to visit their facility and their kind hospitality for arranging excellent lunch and honoring the participants with their memorable gifts.  He appreciated the PARC and NPO team who worked hard under the leadership of Dr. Hayee Qureshi, in making this event successful. 

Mr. Sheikh appreciated the APO and warmly regarded the efforts of Dr. Muhammad Saeed for his hard work and extensive communication before and during the workshop without which it would not have been possible to conduct the sessions smoothly and efficiently. 

Dr. Muhammad Saeed from APO and Dr. Munir Ahmad from PARC also shared the findings on Organic Farming with the participants and highlighted the need of switching over to organic farming to yield the better results.  Finally, in his concluding remarks, Dr. Kausar Abdullah Malik,  stressed upon the need to educate  people, especially the farming community, ensuring them that the organic farming is healthy, safe and ecologically sound and offered financial support and help in developing the linkages among the countries to  the PARC if it comes up with a comprehensive proposal for the effective implementation of organic farming in Pakistan.  In the end, he wished the international delegates a safe and happy journey back home.

II. International Training Course Organized by NPO-Pakistan concluded at Lahore

The National Productivity Organization (NPO) organized a five-day international training course on Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), in collaboration with Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Tokyo, Japan at Hotel Crown Plaza, Lahore from 14-18 April 2008. 

16 delegates from 11 APO member countries, which include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam,six local participants from different organizations, three local observers and three international resource speakers including Mr. Masahisa Mizumoto from Japan, Mr. Kabir Ahmad Mohd Jamil from Malaysia and Mr. Rajachidambaram Thanapal from India and one local resource speaker Maj Gen (Retd) Mian Salim ud Din delivered presentations and lectures on different TPM related issues like understanding the concepts and background of TPM, Why TPM is so important in entire manufacturing processes, 5S and visual management towards TPM, Safety and environment approaches in TPM, Preventive maintenance and monitoring process, Temperature monitoring and wear debris analysis, Quality initiatives in TPM, Steps for TPM implementation, Maintenance Audit, etc. 

The course was also comprised of small group activities, preparation and presentation on individual action plan by all the participants. As part of the training course the delegates visited Honda Atlas, Lahore and were briefed about the profile, various production systems, production capacity and capital investment by the Honda Management. 

Mr. Manzir Shamim, Chairman Technology Up gradation and Skill Development Center (TUSDEC) was the chief guest in the certificate distribution ceremony. The participants were very happy from the outcome of the course. At the end Mr. Ishfaq Sheikh NPO representative conveyed vote of thanks on behalf of Mr. Tariq Bajwa Chief Executive Officer NPO and presented shields to the Chief Guest, the APO representative, Resource Speakers and to the participants. 

Mr. Zainuri Bin Juri from APO in his concluding remarks thanked the Government of Pakistan on behalf of the Secretary General APO for holding the training course in Pakistan and highly appreciated the excellent arrangements for training course made by the NPO-Pakistan.