Minister Planning, Development and Reform Prof Ahsan Iqbal has said the government has initiated multiple programmes worth billions of the rupees to tackle the social entrepreneurship issues and engage the youth for development of the country.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the policy symposium on ‘Social enterprise in Pakistan: challenges and way forward’ here on Wednesday, which was held under the aegis of the British Council and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). Earlier, Executive Director SDPI Abid Q. Sulehri and Deputy Country Director British Council Jim Booth gave welcome addresses, while Tristan Ace also spoke on the occasion.
Prof Ahsan Iqbal enumerated various measures taken by the present government aimed at involving the youth in the development of Pakistan. He said the Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan was for 100,000 entrepreneurs between 21 to 45 years at the subsidised financing of eight per cent per annum, and small business loans would be disbursed to the SME beneficiaries across Pakistan, while the PM’s Small Business Loans Scheme was for the young men and women of less than 35 years, whereas the last two schemes had stipulated 50 per cent quota for women. “Another step is the PM’s Youth Skills Development Scheme for training the unemployed youth to acquire productive skills. Rs800 million will be used for training about 25,000 young professionals, who will be given Rs2,000 as stipend,” he said, adding that 50 per cent of the PM’s Qarz-e-Hasna Scheme would be given to women without any mark up.
While expressing his satisfaction over local institutions’ role in highlighting areas for key policy reforms, the Minister said social entrepreneurship presented an ideal opportunity to the Pakistani youth to outline innovative business ideas though social enterprise was a relatively new concept in Pakistan, but was gaining acceptance in several spheres of the policy-making and private sector. “Some exceptional social entrepreneurs have created positive impact, especially the youth from far-flung areas, who are developing innovative business ideas,” he said, while commending women entrepreneurs for starting social enterprises despite different sorts of constraints. “The Pakistani youth are tremendously capacitated to contribute to the economy, but inadequate career counselling is making them migrate to other countries for better prospects,” he observed.
Prof Ahsan Iqbal said sectoral studies of the Board of Investment and Trade Development Authority showed that opportunities existed in sustainable resource management including recycling and alternate energy, education, health, media, arts, tourism, sports, food production and services. He underlined the need for working together of the federal and provincial governments for promotion and encouragement of the social entrepreneurship. He believed that the mind-set change would encourage the youth to become entrepreneurs, and uplifting of standards of the business schools would also help the cause. “Without opportunities for skills development, monitoring and financing, their potential stays uncultivated, which will leave Pakistan with skills shortage, and in turn can threaten the narrow window of the demographic dividend if enjoys now,” he observed.
He wanted the private sector to invest in the human resource, and said the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform was ready to work with any incubators providing help to the future entrepreneurs. He told the audience that the Ministry had established the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship with a cost of Rs128.4 million, and launched the Youth Development Fellows project. “They want to comeback to their country and serve it. Our job is to clear the way for them, and let them perform,” he said, adding that social enterprise labs be developed for meaningful learning.
Prof Ahsan Iqbal said, as per the Vision 2025, the government was focussing on developing social and human capital, achieving sustained indigenous and inclusive growth, private sector-led growth and competitive knowledge economy, including other areas. “By 2025, our target is that at least half of the businesses in the informal economy become part of the formal economy, whereas governance, institutional reform and modernisation of the public sector will serve as a catalyst to development,” he said, while commending the British Council and SDPI for making efforts to expedite the development process in Pakistan.
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