The National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) hosted a conference titled “Fostering Entrepreneurship through Incubation” to examine strategies for promoting entrepreneur culture in Pakistan.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Youth Affairs, was the event’s chief guest. Meanwhile, Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Imperial Enterprise Lab (IEL) at Imperial College London (ICL), and Sami Serdar, CEO of Young Business Hub, participated digitally in the conference.
Dr. Rizwan Riaz, NSTP Vice President, opened the event with a brief speech. He stated that NUST is an innovation hub where creativity is the major focus rather than just a component.
Ben Mumby-Croft then covered the entrepreneurial culture in the UK and how ICL supports the entrepreneurial ecosystem there in his virtual presentation.
He stated that the ICL concentrates on the intellectual property of the company, which revolves around students and graduates, and that the ICL does not place any claims on the firms, but rather supports them because it does not require any shares in exchange for cash.
Sami Serdar, CEO of Young Business Hub and member of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) since 2019, spoke to the audience about Turkey’s startup culture at the event.
Serdar emphasised the difficulties that Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries face in terms of business, notably those related to visa restrictions.
He highlighted that OIC countries must overcome these challenges in order to close the development-development gap.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja, SAPM on Youth Affairs, stated in her address that the most important component of the Prime Minister (PM) Youth Program is the issue of business loans to the country’s youth.
She expressed regret that postgraduates and even PhDs apply for low-level government jobs in Pakistan.
She also revealed that the federal government has offered over Rs. 75 billion in loans to 54,000 recipients who have either founded or grown their enterprises over the last nine years.
In addition, she stated that the federal government will re-launch its lending scheme next week, offering interest-free loans up to Rs. 500,000, with a minor markup if the loan exceeds this amount.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja, speaking about agro-business loans, remarked that the government must promote rural areas in order to reduce rural-urban migration.
She stated that a thorough National Youth Employment Policy will be implemented in this area.
Furthermore, with an increasing number of unemployed youth. There is a barrier between academia and private sector enterprises, according to the SAPM. She was also disappointed that university research was not reaching policymakers.
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