KARACHI — The Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) held its Best of Entrepreneurship Pakistan (BOE) session at IBA Karachi on Wednesday.
The event looked at e-commerce and entrepreneurship in Pakistan and was organized to highlight the challenges facing the industry and the opportunities they offer to young entrepreneurs. The BOE event aimed to share entrepreneurial trends and stories that will shape the future of e-commerce in the country.
Ms. Aalia Jafar, Director of International Relations, ICCIA, was present at the event. She said, “Today we are blessed. We live in a world where failure counts as success. Because we now know that real innovation happens when you try new things, when you experiment, and when you fail. As the famous Silicon Valley saying goes: Fail early, fail often, but fail forward!”
Mr. Haider Zamin, Deputy Director of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), discussed TDAP’s e-commerce strategy. He shared how TDAP organizes free B2C training courses for women entrepreneurs to register and start selling their products on Amazon.
Mr. Hamza Abdul Rauf, Co-Founder and Director of Telemart was also present at the event. He shared his journey with the audience in attendance. His track record includes lending his expertise to companies like Gul Ahmed and Artistic Milliners when the technology wasn’t as widespread as it is today. Mr. Abdul Rauf spoke about how technology cannot fix a broken business. It can only be achieved through hard work and determination. In the end, Mr. Abdul Rauf emphasized the need for proper mentoring and incubation centers for the current generation.
dr Sara Saeed Khurram, co-founder and CEO of Sehat Kahani was also one of the celebrity guests at the event. She has gone from being a doctor to an entrepreneur who has left nothing to stand in the way of her success. She spoke about how it wasn’t an easy journey, but one that was worth taking. dr Saeed Khurram hopes more women will be encouraged to become entrepreneurs so they can be independent and change the world for those who come after them.
Mr Sultan Rehman, Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), was also present at the panel discussion.
Mr. Abdul Badih El Dada, Director of Events Management at ICCIA, highlighted ICCIA’s efforts in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and invited relevant institutions to develop partnerships to promote entrepreneurial culture in Pakistan and beyond.
It was an informative and motivating session with an audience of 300 that included technical and vocational education and training (TVETs) with a focus on e-commerce, university students, aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts.
We hope that many such programs will be organized in the future so that more of the younger generation can be encouraged to continue their entrepreneurial endeavors.
