Call to foster entrepreneurship for economic uplift
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari has said the government must implement policies fostering entrepreneurship and startups to stimulate economic growth and revival.
He said, “Pakistan is a country of young population with over 60 per cent share of youth in our total population. Therefore, every possible effort should be made to develop this huge pool of human capital by providing them business education so that they could be equipped with the right knowledge for business-startups and be enabled to play a more effective role in the economic development of the country”.
He stated these words while addressing the audience at the Business Summit 23 organised by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry in collaboration with ‘The Career Class’ in its auditorium.
Ahsan Bakhtawari said the government cannot provide jobs to all educated youngsters and the best option to absorb youth in productive activities is to facilitate and encourage them towards entrepreneurship so that instead of becoming job seekers, they could start business ventures and become job creators for others.
ICCI has taken many initiatives for youth entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women, he said while reiterating that the chamber would continue to work with universities and educational institutions to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in youth so that many of them could become tomorrow's owners of several national and multinational companies and make a significant contribution to the economic development of the country.
He also stressed that all stakeholders including the government, academia and regulators should play their part in creating a conducive environment for entrepreneurs and startups in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2023.