FAISALABAD. An instant economic turnaround is possible by providing conducive environment to educated Pakistani youth and in this connection, National Incubation Center (NIC) Islamabad has taken a bold and innovative step to provide world class facilities under one roof to young startups, said Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) president Engr Hafiz Ihtasham Javed.
He was addressing a function after signing an MoU with NIC in Faisalabad. He appreciated the talent, hard work and vision of local youth and said because of their proactive contribution, Faisalabad which was established just about one century ago has been contributing 30 percent share in the national economy.
Welcoming the team of NIC, he said our collaboration will focus on Information Technology (IT) related startups to develop diverse programmes for different sectors in addition to earning a hefty profit through innovations. Commenting on the gender based discrimination; he said Faisalabad is a progressive city of Punjab. “A large number of female entrepreneurs are already in the field and now we have to pave the way for the startups,” he added.
Quoting statistics of Asian Development Bank (ADB), he said Pakistan economy could grow at 30 percent rate if gender discrimination is minimized. He said that FCCI under this MoU will facilitate local talent to avail from the expertise of NIC and contribute their role in national uplift.
NIC project director Pervaiz Abbasi told that Pakistan has the most precious asset of 120 million youth up to the age of thirty years. “This youth is our focus and we intend to utilize it for the accelerated development of Pakistan”, he added. He mentioned statistics and said that developed countries are encouraging its youth and we should also follow the same pursuit.
He said that NIC had launched this project on public private partnership mode in which ministry for Information technology is equally contributing its role. About incubation center Islamabad, he said youth enrolled in the center have so far established their own 209 companies with 21 percent share of females. He said Faisalabad has a huge potential market and we must exploit it for national development.—PR
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021