Pakistan can be a knowledge hub in the region: US envoy

Says people-to-people ties more secure than anything

ISLAMABAD: United States Ambassador David Hale has said that governments come and go but people-to-people ties are more secure, particularly in education and business, than anything.

“Governments come and go, there are ups and downs in politics. But there are people-to-people ties which are more secure than anything between the two countries; sometimes in education and sometimes in business represent very strongly,” Hale said.

He was speaking at a reception held to celebrate the National Entrepreneurship Month and Global Entrepreneurship Week on Friday evening.



He said individual entrepreneurs would be able to realise their goals, create jobs and most importantly ensure economic security and stability for Pakistan.

The ambassador accepted, on behalf of the US mission to Pakistan, an award from the Global Entrepreneurship Network Pakistan in recognition of the mission’s efforts to energise and expand Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

He praised the strong entrepreneurial traditions shared by Pakistan and America and emphasised that economic growth and vitality of all members of the society were foundations of security, stability and prosperity.

“Pakistan can be a knowledge hub in the region,” he emphasised while welcoming the Pakistani delegates that would participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, India from November 28-30.

The summit theme is “Women First, Prosperity for All.” The US mission says it promotes women entrepreneurship through a variety of programmes such as the WECREATE Centre in Islamabad, Pakistan’s first co-working space; “Women Can Do”, a series of skill-building seminars for over 4,000 young Pakistani women; and exchange programmes such as TechWomen, which has been attended by 10 Pakistani women in San Francisco, California, this year.

Speaking on the occasion, SmarTech Chief Executive Officer Shah Rukh said she had gone to the US on an exchange programme along with other women entrepreneurs.



She said they studied the US business model and met different people which gave them a lot of exposure. Shah Rukh has been engaged in a real estate business and has executed projects worth Rs90 million so far.

Another entrepreneur, Sadia Bashir, who was the first woman to run an academy on animated games, told The Express Tribune she set up the academy with US entrepreneurship support to teach animated games.

She also visited the Silicon Valley under the US technical programme and got a chance to meet executives of different companies. She has not developed any game at the international level, but she has been successful in developing games for the domestic market.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2017.

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