Tag Archives: Pakistan

Our Youth is highly motivated, unaware, lacks counseling and guidance. Do not have access to information and available opportunities. Participating Entrepreneurs including some from Pakistan’s top 100 have agreed to provide mentoring, office space and training for start-ups and pool in some sort of seed fund. GEW provided an opportunity to bridge gap between aspiring entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. Now we have a roadmap to tackle the issue of low entrepreneurial activity in Pakistan.  (Kashif M. Khan / President / Global Entrepreneurship Week- Pakistan Initiative of Kauffman Foundation)

Global Entrepreneurship Week was never celebrated in Pakistan in a big way. Only last year, the Center for International Private Enterprise organized two major events in Karachi and Islamabad by engaging university students in a debate on “What it takes to be an Entrepreneur.” The Islamabad event was organized in partnership with Young Entrepreneur’s Forum at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Throughout the year, the CIPE Pakistan team continued speaking about GEW in meetings with partners and at networking events. As a result, this year there were at least 20 events were organized in the country. Most of these events were initiated by the Kaufman Foundation (supported by the U.S. Embassy) and CIPE. It is hoped that from two events to 20 in one year will create a chain reaction, and GEW 2013 will be celebrated with even more enthusiasm.

I would like to talk about CIPE events and what did we do differently. First of all, CIPE events were organized in partnership with local non-profit organizations. This resulted in improving partners’ understanding about the issues related to low entrepreneurial activity in Pakistan, as well as building their capacity to conduct such programs independently in the following years.

The next significant aspect of the CIPE activities was the design in which, rather than listening to a panel of experts, participants shared their ideas on entrepreneurial issues and possible solutions for Pakistan.

CIPE also encouraged teachers from various universities to attend and listen to what their students had to say on the improvement of teaching styles and the entrepreneurship curriculum.  One of the most interesting events, in Peshawar, was organized in partnership with the Peshawar Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry and focused on the choice of an entrepreneurial career by girls living in Northern Pakistan.

To spread the word on social media, CIPE created a unique hashtag #GEWPK. In addition to photo sharing on Facebook, CIPE events were tweeted live and in addition to coverage in local media, a number of bloggers covered the events, including:

Fahmina Arshad

Zainab Khawaja

Ali Suleman

BSO Forum

Ahsan Umar

CIPE hopes that partners will continue momentum started during GEW and that next year there will be more independent events across the country.

Last week the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry ICCI joined the Center for International Private Enterprise and  Kauffman Foundation to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week.  Aiming to determine obstacles to entrepreneurship, ICCI gathered a large number of young entrepreneurs, established businessmen, and students to discuss key impediments to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Amid their discussion, many participants voiced the opinion that the main objective should be to foster an entrepreneurial culture among youth.  CIPE Deputy Country Director Hammad Siddiqui asserts that the only way Pakistan can take advantage of its bulging youth population and push through the hard times of a sluggish economy and few jobs is to provide an environment that encourages youth towards entrepreneurial careers.  Some attendees expressed the need for the curriculum in schools to stoke interest in students.  While this is absolutely a vital part of building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, it is also important to advocate on the policy side as well.

Earlier this year, ICCI won second place in CIPE’s 2012 Leading Practices contest for its efforts to not only increase interest in entrepreneurship, but to advocate for a supportive policy environment.  Being the first chamber in Pakistan to focus on youth development, ICCI created the Youth Entrepreneurship Forum and organized numerous conferences, forums, and seminars inviting youth and university students to attend.  ICCI went a step farther to include policymakers, academics, and young professionals in the events in order to identify existing barriers and craft plausible solutions.  Many of the recommendations that emerged from such events have been adopted by the government and incorporated into the National Youth Policy.

Currently, the Young Entrepreneurs Forum continues to grow and has established connections with universities and other chambers throughout the country.  ICCI also sends youth delegations on international trips to meet with similar youth groups around the world and participate in international forums such as World Chambers Congress.  With the support of CIPE, ICCI has established an Entrepreneurship Development Center that provides aspiring entrepreneurs with access to requisite tools and mentorship.

Through such efforts, ICCI has sparked an amazing interest in entrepreneurship and provides support for those who aspire to start their own enterprises.  Numerous competitions in Pakistan now reward startup teams by matching them with experienced mentors or even helping to secure capital from investors.  But more importantly, ICCI recognizes the importance of also providing a supportive policy environment, a crucial part of any entrepreneurial ecosystem, in which youth have access to the economy.  Regardless of the amount of interest or access to tools and financing youth have, if the environment lacks sound policies, youth will remain excluded and unable to participate in the economy.

CIPE Pakistan celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week.

“Youth have inherent risk-taking ability but do not have the tools and techniques. Our labour force is expanding by 1.5 per cent per annum and there is a great need for job creators rather than job seekers.” Dr Ishrat Husain – IBA Dean and Director
One of the key factors in assessing a business friendly country is to notice the rate of entrepreneurship development. However, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Pakistan Report 2010  places Pakistan well below many of its peers in this respect.

According to the GEM report, “The established business ownership rate in Pakistan is 4.7%, which is less than the average rate for factor-driven economies (12.6%).” The report also highlights the fact that since Pakistan’s Independence in 1947 from British India, successive governments focused on the development of large-scale industries both in the public and private sector, and policies to promote entrepreneurship and small businesses were neglected.

Pakistan has some of the best infrastructure, agriculture, and natural resources in South Asia. In addition, there are a number of initiatives from government and donor agencies to boost the entrepreneurial culture.

However, due to the persistent poor law and order situation, weak governance, corruption, bribery, the unavailability of seed capital,  and lack of encouragement from society, the rate of formal business start-ups is the lowest in the region. These issues encourage the growth of the informal sector in Pakistan, which has expanded more rapidly than the formal economy.

The GEM report also highlights following seven challenges being faced by start-ups and small businesses in Pakistan:

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