LAHORE         -         Starting a business and commitment to its success is not only a victory of a businessman but is also a great service to the country as it generates revenue for the state and produces employment opportunities.

It was crux of the speeches of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad and Convener Standing Committee on Training & Development Sadia Rana while speaking at a seminar on “How to be Successful in Business” at the LCCI on Wednesday. Dr Maaz ul Hassan, Ch Sultan Mehmood and Farhan Khan also spoke.

The speakers said that Pakistan has huge potential to grow and nurture businesses in the country. “We need strong will to ensure our presence and growth under all circumstances”, they said.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that Pakistan was still an emerging market that has created challenges for starting and doing business. He said that innovation holds the key to success for young entrepreneurs therefore they should have an eye on global patterns while doing their businesses. He said that there was no dearth of resources but only thing that has kept Pakistan behind was the unawareness about the latest business techniques and methodologies. He said that in today’s international business arena, competition has grown by leaps and bounds. “For the success, we have to focus on all business related issues from innovation and marketing to sustainability”, he said, adding, entrepreneurs should have to focus on sustainability issues which have become critical to the future success of international business. He said that sustainability was now spreading to every domain of business and posing questions that the business groups had never been asked before. Young entrepreneurs should learn from seasoned businessmen that how sustainability could be used as a source of innovation, he said.

While citing his personal experiences, he said that he had visited a number of countries in the world and almost everywhere the Pakistani were at the top positions because of hard work. He said that risk was the name of the game as far as entrepreneurship was concerned but the ultimate winners were those that learn from their mistakes and adopt corrective measure without any delay.

Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad that youth was 60 per cent of the population of Pakistan. “If 25 per cent or more become entrepreneurs; they can become the assets of Pakistan”, he said. He said that new entrants in the business should also try to establish their own brands instead of relying on existing ones. He also urged them to focus on exports as there were a number of global destinations that were unexplored even today.

Sadia Rana said that Pakistan has best infrastructure, agriculture and natural resources. In addition, there were a number of initiatives from government to boost the entrepreneurial culture. She urged the young entrepreneurs to focus on quality while dealing with foreign buyers so that their product could win a good share in the global market.