CLOSE COOPERATION BETWEEN ICCI AND CIPE WILL PROMOTE YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP– MUHAMMAD IJAZ ABBASI

The presence of Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) in Pakistan is an acknowledgement of the growing realization that business competitiveness and economic development call for close interaction between government and business forums, stated Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry while meeting with a high powered delegation from CIPE-Washington comprising Mr. Gregori Lebedev Chairman, Dr. John Sullivan Executive Director, Mr. Andrew Wilson Director for Latin America, Middle East and Asia and Ms Brooke Millis Program Officer South Asia who are currently on a visit to Pakistan on completion of over 30 months by CIPE in Pakistan.

He said Islamabad Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with CIPE arranged couple of youth development and women entrepreneurs’ seminars which provided opportunities of interaction between well established businessmen and young entrepreneurs (both male and female) to exchange their views and gain useful knowledge and skills from experienced and professional business people about running successful business enterprises. He said these events created lot of interest and motivation in the youth to seriously think about embarking on business ventures according to their competency and aptitude.

Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi said ICCI in collaboration with CIPE and after getting input from young entrepreneurs developed many draft recommendations for incorporating in the National Youth Policy of Pakistan and expressed his hope that these will lead to creation of better business environment and good regulatory framework for youth in the country. He said ICCI also held workshops on skills development and capacity building of young men and women entrepreneurs which will play a crucial role in enhancing business knowledge and skills of the youth.

In the end, Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi highly appreciated the initiatives taken by CIPE for economic policy and legislative reforms, corporate governance, particularly in the area of family owned companies, women entrepreneurship development, capacity building of business associations through technical assistance and grant program, policy advocacy in the area of microfinance, IT and venture capital etc and said that with the wealth of experience from its initiatives in ninety-five developing countries, CIPE would be a valuable advisory, consultative and feedback channel for improving business and economic policies and regulatory mechanism in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, members of CIPE delegation said that CIPE was established in Pakistan with its stated objective of furthering private sector involvement in policy advocacy and institutional reform, improving governance, and building understanding of market-based democratic systems. They said CIPE’s presence in Pakistan marks a turning point in the country’s trade and commerce and business environment. They hoped that CIPE would work closely with the Government and private sector to forge lasting partnerships, increase public-private dialogue, and contribute to economic friendly policies culminating in good governance and increased competitiveness.

In the end, the delegation lauded the role of ICCI for providing good platform in collaboration with CIPE to young men and women entrepreneurs and experienced businessmen to interact and exchange views as well as share their useful experience to enhance the knowledge, skills and capacity building of the youth for becoming successful business professionals and hoped that close cooperation of CIPE and ICCI would go a long way in developing youth oriented business policies and enabling environment in Pakistan.