Karachi

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between SEED Ventures and the British Business Centre at the UK Deputy High Commission on Wednesday to enhance and promote the entrepreneurial segment of Pakistan and the UK through cross-border development and local business solutions.

SEED Ventures is an organisation that works to facilitate entrepreneurship which, in turn, would promote trade, industry, investment and economic relations between the UK and Pakistan. 

SEEDS is an enterprise development organisation and an investment firm that works to develop a global sphere of entrepreneurial solutions in regional, national and international markets to cause a societal and economic change. It specialises in small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

Malahat Awan, CEO, British Business Centre, and SEED Ventures CEO and Co-Founder Faraz Khan signed the MoU respectively in the presence of former State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Ishrat Hussain, UK Deputy High Commissioner John Tucknottt and SEED Ventures Director and Co-founder Khusro Ansari and Sadaf Mehmood.

The two organisations have agreed to work as partners to enhance and promote the entrepreneurial segment of Pakistan and the UK through cross-border development and local business solutions.

United Kingdom Deputy High Commissioner John Tucknott said, “The UK enjoys a strong relationship with Pakistan in the key area of prosperity. The British Business Centre’s goal is to contribute to an increase in bilateral trade and investment in line with the commitments made by Prime Ministers David Cameron and Nawaz Sharif at their meeting in London on April 2014. We welcome and support the cooperation of SEED ventures in the endeavour.”

Former State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Ishrat Hussain cited the case of the Gramaen Bank in Bangladesh and said that it could get to a certain limit but had to cooperate with other organisations for the empowerment of the women. 

He said the purpose of emancipation and economic development should not be just economic profits and catering to market conditions but to allocate those profits for human and social welfare. 

The UK and Pakistan, he said, had a strong trade and investment relationship which held great significance for the government of Pakistan. He reiterated David Cameron’s total support for a democratic Pakistan.  “W want this relationship to flourish over the coming years and hope that such initiatives will continue to take place in order to cement the ties between the two countries,” said Dr Hussain.

SEEDS Ventures Co-founder Faraz Khan said, “The entrepreneurial climate in Pakistan is changing, thus necessitating a promotion of rapidly emerging start-ups, SMEs, and larger enterprises.”  He said the present state of industry was incapable of absorbing all the graduates the country was producing and, as such, entrepreneurship must be introduced along all spectra.