Need for an entrepreneurial culture in Pakistan highlighted

Islamabad, October 24, 2012 (PPI-OT): The 1st Annual Entrepreneurship Conference of Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) which has been set up by a team of fresh graduates from FAST National University was held at the National Library in Islamabad on October 22, 2012. With the theme of Learn, Create and Lead, the conference aimed to get a full understanding of economic development achieved by constructing a Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) that captured the essence of the contextual features of entrepreneurship and filled a gap in the measure of development. Khushhalibank was one of the official sponsors of the Conference.

Speaking on the occasion, Shahriz Khan, Product Manager at Khushhalibank, said that “small and medium sized entrepreneurs are vital to the economic growth of the country”. He added that Khushhalibank has always been on the forefront of initiatives supporting entrepreneurs across the country, and has always sponsored and promoted platforms to discuss such initiatives.

“Entrepreneurship is all about having a mindset; it’s about thinking out of the box. No matter how many definitions you look at, entrepreneurship is mainly about continuously striving to do something new and better while maintaining economic viability ”, he said.

The 1st Annual Entrepreneurship Conference consisted of many important keynote addresses from leading scholars and industry experts, including Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Chancellor IBA Karachi, Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr. Mudassar Israr, Chairman Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Dr. Shoaib A. Khan, CEO Centre for Advanced Research and Engineering, Dr. Ansar A. Rajput, Associate Dean Muhammed Ali Jinnah University, and Dr. Akram Chaudhary, Vice Chancellor University of Sargodha. Many other distinguished speakers also addressed on this occasion.

The speakers at the conference stressed upon the need for continuous innovation and up-gradation, and gave numerous examples of other countries where governments mainly sponsored entrepreneurship-based initiatives. An interesting panel discussion also took place, wherein industry and educational experts highlighted the lack of education behind poor ratio of entrepreneurship-based initiatives taken by the young talent in the country.

A detailed question and answer session also took place, followed by students from two different institutions displaying their projects.

For more information, contact:
Khushhali Bank Limited
94 West, Fourth Floor,
Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area
PO Box 3111
Islamabad – Pakistan
Telephone: +92 (51) 111 092 092
Fax: + 92 (51) 9245120