Engr. Waseem Asghar re-elected ACEP Chairman -

Engr. Waseem Asghar has been re-elected Chairman of the Association of Consulting Engineers Pakistan (ACEP) for another term.

The Engr. Wasif Nazar Siddiqui Vice Chairmanannouncement made in ACEP’s 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 29 in Karachi. Engr. Khalid Mirza was elected Senior Vice Chairman, while Wasif Nazar was elected Vice Chairman.

The association also elected its seven-member Executive Council, with all members elected unopposed. The new council comprises Engr. Nadeem Arif, Saleem Rangoon Wala, Engr. Musaib Qureshi, Engr. Kamran Siddiqui, Engr. Fahad Hassan, Engr. Tanveer Ahsan and Engr. Salman Ali.

Speaking to Engineering Review after his re-election, Engr. Waseem Asghar said Pakistan’s consulting engineering industry was facing a number of serious challenges and that surviving under the prevailing circumstances had itself become a major challenge.

He said the current government approach towards the consulting industry was not encouraging and called for greater attention to the sector’s needs.
“Government policies are not favourable for us,” he said, adding that there was inadequate financing and insufficient attention to the capacity building of consulting firms.

Engr. Asghar pointed out that consulting companies played an important role in creating employment opportunities for engineers. Despite the difficult environment, he said, consulting firms continued to recruit and train young engineers themselves.
“We train new engineers ourselves,” he said, explaining that consulting firms invest considerable effort in developing the professional skills of young engineers.

However, retaining trained engineers has become another major challenge. According to the ACEP chairman, growing demand for engineers and the boom in the regional market have created considerable pressure on salaries.

“Engineers learn here and then go abroad for better opportunities. We then have to train new people again,” he said. He said this continuous cycle of hiring and training was putting additional pressure on consulting companies, particularly when they were already operating in a difficult financial and policy environment.

The ACEP chairman stressed the need for policies aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s domestic consulting industry, improving the capacity of local firms and enabling them to compete in regional and international markets.

He said a strong consulting sector was essential not only for creating employment and developing engineers but also for supporting the country’s infrastructure and development projects.

“There are many challenges, but we have to find ways to strengthen the industry and create an environment where consulting companies can survive, grow and continue developing engineers,” he said. – ER

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