USAID TRAINING FOR PAKISTAN PROJECT WHARTON'S FOLLOW-ON IN-COUNTRY WORKSHOP ON MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

In response, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided immediate technical assistance in a bridge program with sector-specific expertise, as well as in cross-cutting areas of legal, communications, and HR/legal support. This assistance was part of the Support for Privatization Activity (SFP) program, which anticipated a hand-off to other donors with larger resources for longer-term support. A slowing of privatization activity at the beginning of 2017 enabled PC senior management, with USAID encouragement, to focus on fundamental methodological skills lacking in PC staff and to develop a strategic plan with measurable, realistic goals. The SFP program suggested undertaking activities to develop the capacity of PC staff and organization, including providing an opportunity for staff to attend workshops at leading business schools. In this regard, SFP, with assistance from the USAID/Pakistan Mission and the Training for Pakistan (TFP) program, sent two PC senior resources to attend a five-day Mergers and Acquisitions course at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in January 2017. The course was designed to bolster the PC's ability to achieve its objectives through staff capacity building outside of Pakistan and to develop resources for conducting similar training programs in Pakistan for the rest of PC staff. Considering the importance and benefits of the course, USAID/PK Mission made it mandatory for SFP to ensure replication of the course for at least 20 PC staff. The PC obtained necessary approvals from USAID and the PC Secretary for scheduling a "Follow-On In-Country Workshop on Mergers & Acquisition course" using the material and content delivered at Wharton and led by the PC Senior Consultant/Senior Transaction Manager, Mr. Shahid Raza. The replication of the Wharton course was a massive exercise that started with the retrieval of the Wharton course material from the PC's resource who attended the workshop at Wharton School. SFP assisted in selecting appropriate material per qualifications and requirements of the participants. The full five-day Wharton course content was customized for a three-day course for the PC. Another significant step in the course execution was the capacity development of the PC resource, Mr. Shahid Raza, to handle different aspects relating to workshop planning, material design, session planning, delivery styles, and administrative and logistics support. SFP provided necessary technical and administrative support to both PC's resources and World Learning (WL) in replicating this workshop for PC staff while also providing training of trainer guidance to develop the competence of Mr. Shahid Raza to lead the workshop. SFP consultants were responsible for coordinating and liaising with hotel, vendors, branding, and printing of material, procurement of stationary items, preparation of items/material given to participants, and course administration. The live on-the-job training and coaching sessions provided by SFP's Consultant Coordinator acted as a catalyst to ensure that the workshop was prepared for and held on time, and to ensure high-quality material and delivery throughout the three-day workshop. The workshop was successfully conducted with the opening session being chaired by Federal Secretary Government of Pakistan, Mr. Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera. The workshop provided Mr. Raza and the PC staff and management with the opportunity to share learned practices with the rest of the PC staff, provide PC staff with an opportunity to develop their skills and obtain knowledge about latest practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, and identify acquisition strategies, how to execute and close deals, and integrate acquisitions successfully.