Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi has lauded the role of Shell Pakistan in developing opportunities for youth through its 'Tameer' programme in the country.
The 'Tameer' is an enterprise initiative targeted at people of 18-32 years of age to help them start and develop their own businesses.
Speaking at the second Shell 'Tameer Award' ceremony here on Saturday, the chief minister said the young people had a key role to play in the national economy, but they need opportunities to develop their skills to achieve this goal.
The lack of support and jobs are major problems for the young people, he added.
Lauding the role of the Shell Pakistan, Pervaiz Elahi said the company had taken a good initiative to tackle this problem of youth in Pakistan, adding it had provided a hope enabling them to consider starting their own businesses.
He said the 'Tameer' is a pioneering initiative by the Shell Pakistan, and will be a valuable channel for supporting the drive for self-employment, adding the achievement of this Programme shows Shell's commitment in encouraging and helping youth to establish their own businesses.
"This candle of hope for youth has to remain lit as there is no other option for the youth," he remarked.
Shell Pakistan Chairman and Managing Director Farooq Rahmatullah said: "Tameer has provided young entrepreneurs with not only the motivation, but also the know-how and tools for building their business ideas and achieving their goals", adding: the Shell is an adaptation of the community service programme run by the Shell Foundation globally under the name of Shell LiveWire, which was introduced in Pakistan 2003.
The project is entirely funded by the Shell with Smeda as the operational partner and the IBA Karachi as the development partner, he said.
Speaking about the unemployment problem in Pakistan, Farooq Rahmatullah said: "We received 8,000 job applications last year, and found that there was a vast reservoir of expertise and talent in various areas of knowledge in the country, which needed to be developed."
About Shell Tameer, he said it is aimed at promoting the spirit of entrepreneur-ship by giving young entrepreneurs a platform to develop their business skills for planning, launching and managing their business ideas "and we have received an unimaginable response from young people."
Ms Karen Bellis, LiveWire Programme Manager for Shell International, said the company has launched this programme in as many as 23 countries, including Pakistan, and added that it will also be launched in another seven more countries. The first LiveWire programme was introduced in UK in 1982.
Comments
Comments are closed.