Australian MP of Pakistani origin visits IBA

Karachi

An Australian member of parliament (MP), Dr Mehreen Faruqi, who is of Pakistani origin, paid a visit to the Institute of Business Administration (IBA)’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Development with the Australian High Commissioner in Pakistan Margaret Adamson on Tuesday to attend a panel discussion on youth development and gender equality.

The event was also attended by many senior industrialists, besides students and teachers of IBA. The acting Dean and Director of IBA Dr Sayeed Ghani shed light on how the CED had trained 350 women entrepreneurs through its Women-X initiative helping them strengthen and expand their businesses.

The IBA director also talked about a potential collaboration between the NED and CED to instil entrepreneurial skills among engineering students.

Henna Birks welcomed the audience on behalf of Australian High Commission and said that Australian Awards had a network of over 600 engaged alumni who had made significant contributions to Pakistan.  

Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson said her country was reaching out to Pakistani youth through Australia Day in Spring 2016 Festival.

The focus this year, she said, was on youth and engagement with students of leading institutions of Pakistan and the alumni of Australian Awards. She praised the state of the art IBA campus and said it was an institution to be proud of.

Praising Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Adamson said she was very happy that Dr Faruqi was accompanying the Australian High Commission for Australia Day in Spring 2016 initiative since she was not only an accomplished academic but also an accomplished MP. 

Moderator of the session, Maheen Kazi, said globalisation and technological advancements had provided our youth with a myriad of opportunities, but on the other hand there were still many challenges like unemployment and gender inequality faced by the young people of the country.

She invited Australian MP Dr Mehreen Faruqi, public health practitioner Dr Zeeshan Sheikh, President Youth Parliament Asad Palejo and progressive farmer Amir Hayat Bhandara to speak on the topic of discussion.  

Starting the debate, Dr Mehreen Faruqi spoke about youth in Australia and their similarities and differences with their Pakistani counterparts. She also talked about some challenges faced by the Australian youth in terms of the ever increasing fee of higher education while unemployment also posed significant difficulties.

Dr Faruqi said technological advancements and the social media had opened up unprecedented business avenues for the youth. She said to succeed in life, one had to be daring, flexible and be willing to take up available opportunities.