Celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week in Pakistan

Until 2011, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) was not a known term in Pakistan. In 2011, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) initiated  events engaging university students and teachers in debates during GEW. To provide wider outreach, these events were organized in cooperation with regional chambers of commerce.

This year CIPE also wrote to over 70 universities and 140 business associations around Pakistan and provided information about GEW and how they can be part of this global celebration of entrepreneurship. These efforts have resulted in more independently-held events in the country.

While speaking at a joint event organized by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, CIPE, and GEW in Islamabad,  Country Representative for GEW Kahif M. Khan said that:

“Celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week in Pakistan is a new phenomenon. I appreciate the role of CIPE in starting GEW activities three years ago. This now is becoming a movement. Until last year, a lot of activities were donor funded. The good news is that this year a number of organizations celebrated GEW in Pakistan through their own resources.”

Highlights of few the GEW events in Pakistan include:

• In Peshawar, Cecos University discussed start-up issues and emphasized why execution is more important than ideas.
• In Peshawar, Edwards College organized an event focused on the “do it yourself” model of entrepreneurial learning.
• University of Engineering and Technology in Mardan engaged students in discussion around “Launching a Successful Start-up.”
• Roots Millennium School in Islamabad organized events to share thoughts on business start-ups.
• The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad together with GEW hosted a policy roundtable on “Promotion of Entrepreneurship in Pakistan.”
• Islamabad Chamber, CIPE, and GEW partnered in organizing a conference “Role of Business Incubators in Promoting Entrepreneurship.”
• USAID and GEW organized a conference on “Entrepreneurship and Business Acceleration Program.”
• MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan in cooperation with All World (Pakistan Top 100) and USAID organized a seminar in Islamabad to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week.
• The University of Agriculture Peshawar hosted a workshop on agricultural technologies titled “Dairy Science Park.”
• CIPE organized three additional networking events for bloggers and entrepreneurs. The idea behind these events was to get at least 30 untold entrepreneurial stories from Pakistan published online.
• CIPE also managed to trend hashtags #GEW and #GEWPK on Twitter during the week.
• Haripur Chamber of Commerce and Industry celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week by holding a group discussion on entrepreneurship development at the University of Haripur.
• Iqra University, Karachi Campus organized a seminar on entrepreneurship development and also an exhibition for students to display their entrepreneurial ideas.
• Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES (P@SHA) organized a networking discussion on “Launching companies – mistakes – solutions – and markets access.”
• LOGIX College in cooperation with Sargodha Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a discussion forum of over 100 students titled “Importance of Entrepreneurship in Youth of Pakistan.”
• The U.S. Consulate hosted over 50 girls from a local high school for a workshop on entrepreneurship
• The National Entrepreneurship Working Group (NEW-G) organized a conference to discuss development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan.

CIPE plans to continue spreading the word on the importance of entrepreneurship in Pakistan and it hopes that other partner organizations such as GEW-Pakistan and business associations will take this initiative forward independently.

Hammad Siqqidui is Deputy Country Director for CIPE Pakistan.