Press Release

Date: September 13, 2006

Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) together with
The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) to organize a Roundtable on Economic Journalism

Pakistan’s economic progress has been experiencing a continued upward trend over the past three years. Pakistani business in particular and citizens in general are becoming better aware of the key issues affecting their decision making to support the growth trend. Hence recently, the demand for high quality economic and financial reporting has grown in Pakistan. However, the quality of such reporting is depleting due to the lack of capacity within the stakeholders and unclear policy direction in this area.

With the objective to draw concrete recommendations for the development of the business and economic Journalism, a Business Policy Roundtable is being organized jointly by the Pakistan Press Foundation and the Center for International Private Enterprise on September 14, 2006 in Karachi.

During the roundtable conference, five primary stakeholders i.e., Government, Business Enterprises, Trade Associations, Academics, Media and the General Public, that play important roles in improving the quality of economic and financial journalism in Pakistan will discuss the developmental issues in the area of Economic and Financial Journalism and create a set of policy recommendations to present to policymakers, both in the government and the private sector. It is envisaged that these recommendations will also provide the basis to formulate an action plan for the improvement of the standards of business and economic journalism in Pakistan.

ENDS
Notes to Editors:

CIPE is a non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. We have supported more than 800 local initiatives in 95 developing countries, involving the private sector in policy advocacy and institutional reform, improving governance, and building understanding of market-based democratic systems, while CIPE has supported programs in Pakistan in the past, this is the first time it has established an “on-the-ground” presence in the country.

In Pakistan, CIPE’s primary role is to support efforts to improve the business environment through advocacy and policy dialogue. CIPE will also coordinate the provision of small project grants to associations and think tanks as well as assist in public outreach and educational program that will provide materials on entrepreneurship and market economics to policy makers, educators, entrepreneurs, and the business community.

CIPE and Pakistan Press Foundation has signed an MOU to work together to help strengthen journalists' economic literacy in Pakistan and equip them to report and write about the major economic issues confronting developing economies such as Trade Policy, Budget, Banking, Privatization, Stock Exchange, Trade Agreements, Financial Crises, Labour Issues and Globalization, and the role of International Financial Institutions.