‘SAARC youth’s future tied to entrepreneurship’

LAHORE: Shaharyar Ali Malik, Chairman Young Entrepreneurs, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Monday stressed the need for supporting youth by providing them with ample opportunities to fully exploit their innovation and creativity.

“The future of South Asian youth lies in entrepreneurship and tech-based education, which enables them to create employment opportunities for themselves as well as for others,” said Malik addressing a session on "Role of Youth Entrepreneurs towards Regional Development" held in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Malik chaired the discussion, which was held on the sidelines of 70th Executive Committee meeting of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said youth in the SAARC region had similar problems, opportunities and challenges, while poverty and youth unemployment in particular were significant challenges.

"These problems can be solved through the development of youth skills, entrepreneurship, leadership, and also by increasing youth participation", he observed.

Malik added that while the 19th century was of dreams and struggles, the 20th century was of hope, but riddled with some havoc, and the 21st century is of fulfillment. "The opposite of destruction shall be instruction," Shaharyar said. "Our region is entering an age of opportunity and freedom, youth and gender equality were the pillars of modernity,” he said and added, "When we have social and economic empowerment, only then we can say that we are in the age of modernity.

Stating that the SAARC region has the largest impoverished population, Shaharyar said, "You have to work to remove this curse of poverty. We live in a world where we are not really prepared to live, but we must try to provide the best to our future generations.”

Poverty and unemployment, he added, are the biggest evils of our society, and the youngsters of today must work together to eliminate these from our world.

“The SAARC member states should focus on reducing youth unemployment in their respective countries because one-fifth of the population of South Asia is 15 to 24 years old,” Malik said adding, young adults continue to account for half of the unemployed and are six times more likely than older workers to be jobless. Highlighting the challenges being faced by youth in Pakistan, Malik said Pakistan was the fifth largest 'young country' in the world.

“According to a recent United Nations Population Fund report, youth comprises around 63 percent of Pakistan's total population,” he said.

Of these, he continued, 58.5 million are 20 to 24 years old, while 69 million are under 15, whereas around 25 percent of the youth is illiterate, and 8.2 percent is unemployed with no vocational and technical skills.

Wrapping it up, Malik said under these bleak circumstances, the process of dialogue should continue in future to promote congenial atmosphere in the region.