Call to encourage start-ups

LAHORE: Discussing the situation of entrepreneurs, including the future of incubators, the panellists said Pakistan was going through a rapid transformation towards digital and technology domains, which required identifying the current problems, upcoming challenges and proposing solutions.

Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) on Saturday organised the session titled “The future of incubators and accelerators in Pakistan”.

Atif Mumtaz, PITB Director Entrepreneurship, UET Technology Incubator Programme Manager Farhan Riaz and Head of a private technology incubator Ayub Ghauri were among the panelists.

Director Entrepreneurship PITB Atif Mumtaz while highlighting achievements of PITB entrepreneurship wing said both of PITB’s entrepreneurship projects have now become a common name among university and college students and they have been showing interest in entrepreneurship right from the study days, which was an achievement.

Ayub Ghauri said along with other facilities like incubators and accelerators, it was also important for the young entrepreneurs to think out of the box particularly during the product development stage. This thinking could help identify sustainable business ideas.

Farhan Riaz gave examples of successful startups and entrepreneurs who have gone through incubators and accelerators and highlighted the importance of learning especially from failures.

Mughees Tahir said entrepreneurs were likeminded people with similar goals and even similar problems.