US interested in promoting entrepreneurship

Economic counsellor says US wants to see economically strong Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: US Economic Counsellor Michael A Sullivan has said that the US is interested in promoting entrepreneurship as it is the foundation and pillar of the economy, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

"It is a golden time for Pakistan; actually you have a new government and it has the idea of job creation and making Pakistan an easier place to work. We would like to see an economically strong and vibrant Pakistan," he said while talking to media at a ceremony held to mark the Global Entrepreneurship Week late on Thursday evening.

Replying to a question, Sullivan said Pakistan had a long history of textile exports and urged the government to develop the human resources capital for employment creation.

He pointed out that information technology would be a good sector to focus on and a lot of young people would be interested in it, adding that Pakistan had 60% of the population below 30 years of age and the IT industry would create jobs for them.

Replying to a question about the present government's target of job creation, the economic counsellor voiced hope that the goal could be met but it would require a lot of work. "The prime minister has vowed to create a business-friendly environment and the potential is there," he added.

Speaking at the ceremony, US Ambassador Paul Jones highlighted that the Start-up Cup, being sponsored by Washington, was a business model competition among aspiring entrepreneurs designed to train talented and innovative people in Pakistan and contribute to long-term economic growth.

About 150 entrepreneurs attended the event from different provinces of Pakistan.

"Why we want to promote relationships; we really are entrepreneurs and we believe in empowerment of entrepreneurs to address problems at the local level and give freedom to the people to pursue ideas," the envoy said.

"We support entrepreneurship and you are familiar with one of our programmes and we have partnership in entrepreneurship that is the Start-up Cup."

Last year, the US sent a number of Pakistani entrepreneurs to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, India, which focused on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally.

"We continue to support entrepreneurship worldwide, especially in the lead-up to the June 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in the Netherlands," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2018.

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