Pakistan Engineering Council Chairman Engineer Waseem Nazir has said an e-licensing system is being introduced and that the council aims to fully digitalize all its systems by December this year. He was speaking at a consultative meeting on challenges facing the construction sector, held at a private hotel in Karachi, where engineers, contractors and representatives of relevant sectors discussed taxes, payments, licensing, upgrading, price adjustment and other issues affecting the industry.
Waseem Nazir said the core purpose of the ongoing reforms at PEC was to provide engineers, contractors and other professionals with faster, more transparent and easier services, with licenses, registrations, verifications and other processes to be handled online through the e-licensing and digital system. He said the Pathway to Practice Program has been helping fresh engineering graduates receive the title of engineer on the same day their university results are announced, making it easier for them to register with PEC immediately and begin their professional careers without unnecessary delay.
The chairman said PEC has also launched the Graduate Trainee Engineers program, under which more than 2,300 fresh engineering graduates have already received six months of practical, house job style training, including five months of industrial training at leading organizations and one month of soft skills training at the National Defense University Islamabad, alongside a monthly stipend of 50,000 rupees per engineer. With around 18,000 to 20,000 engineers graduating in Pakistan every year, Nazir said these programs aim to give young engineers a clear pathway from education into the professional field, while also working to make engineer registration mandatory nationwide.
Nazir added that PEC is launching artificial intelligence related programs to expose Pakistani engineers and students to modern technology and improve their global opportunities, framing the goal as moving from brain drain toward brain gain, where Pakistani engineers can gain international experience before returning to contribute to national development. He said PEC has signed an agreement with NADRA to provide digital identity for engineers at the national level, while agreements with China are creating training and education opportunities for Pakistani engineering students, with around 30 students recently sent to China and plans for 20 to 30 students annually over the next decade. On the licensing front, PEC is introducing an e-license facility for contractors alongside an already launched instant renewal facility, allowing license renewals within 24 hours to make the process faster and more transparent.
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