Pakistan High Commission, Singapore hosted a hybrid startup/ fintech Networking Night today in collaboration with Golden Equator Capital. Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of Singapore was the guest of honour at the event which was also attended by Mr. Shadab Tayyabi, President of Singapore Fintech Association, and Mr. Navin Suri, CEO of Elevandi, Singapore. A large number of local Tech community attended in person while its Pakistani counterparts attended virtually. The State Bank of Pakistan also virtually attended the event. The Bank of Punjab made a presentation on its contributions to Pakistan’s startup ecosystem. 2. The Chief Fintech Officer and President of the Singapore Fintech Association talked about their contribution towards cultivating startup/Fintech culture in emerging markets in South, South-East Asia, and Africa to generate employment opportunities for the youth to alleviate poverty. StartKar, the brand comprising 8 leading Pakistani fintechs created by the High Commission in 2019 for participation in the 4th edition of the Singapore Fintech Festival shared its experience and gains from SFF 2019. 3. Eight Pakistani companies including Systems Limited, Quantum Westlabs, Bank of Punjab, Endeavour Pakistan, Waada, Neem, Sehat Kahani, and Abhi made virtual presentations. Two Pakistani-origin Tech founders in Singapore, Meeran Malik and Fatima Rizwan introduced their fintechs; Seedefy and Meta School respectively. Mr. Qamar Saleem, President of SMEs at IFC – World Bank elaborated on the role played by his organization for the promotion of SMEs for poverty alleviation, employment generation, and economic empowerment of women and youth. 4. According to Startup Genome, a research and policy advisory firm, Singapore climbed to 8th position in the global Startup Ecosystem and 3rd in Asia recently. 31 unicorns are headquartered in Singapore, and more than half were set up in the last two years. It is home to 400 tech startups and 200 incubators and has consistently ranked among the top 10 in the Global Innovation Index. It is among the top 15 for ease of source funding. 5. The StartKar Networking Night was organized to unlock opportunities for our young entrepreneurs to learn from their counterparts in Singapore. It will serve as a pre-cursor for the next annual Singapore Fintech Festival in November 2023, with the aim of bringing at least 20 Pakistani fintech & startups to this mega event for facilitating investment in Pakistani startup ecosystem and generating training and mentoring opportunities for our young entrepreneurs.
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