Peshawar Celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week

Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world’s largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare. During one week each November, GEW inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. These activities, from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings, connect participants to potential collaborators, mentors and even investors—introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities.

Peshawar 2.0 is a social enterprise aimed at building a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city. On November 24^th, team and partners from Peshawar 2.0 arranged a number of events related to tech and entrepreneurship.

The week was kicked off with a talk by Dr Faisal Khan who shared his ideas about graduate entrepreneurship. Dr Faisal believes Universities should be producing innovators, not mere graduates. The world is moving towards a knowledge driven economy and it is innovators who will bridge the gap between our agricultural industry and the world. Students should also create a demand for business studies to be incorporated in their curriculum even if they are agriculture students.

A cluster of startups around University campuses will not only create jobs but can be a driving force for Pakistan’s economy.

A parallel event was also held at the University of Engineering & Technology, Mardan campus where a 100 students turned out to listen to Mr Asad Iqbal, the CEO and founder of an app development startup.

Cecos University also celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week with talks by Ammar Awan and Dr Faisal Khan hosted by Peshawar 2.0 on the 3^rd day of the week. Ammar is a software developer and computer sciences researcher with a passion for startups. He has experimented with a number of successful ventures but decided to tell his story of an idea he never got to execute. His talk “Why execution is more important than ideas” was an eye opener for many students who attended the event.

Edwardes College also took part in the worldwide celebrations of Global Entrepreneurship Week on the 21st of November, 2013.  Students of different disciplines gathered for the talk “Startups Unplugged” held at the department for professional studies. The speaker, Bilal Ahmad, is a faculty member at Edwardes and Campus Lead at Peshawar 2.0. He is a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship, and has been involved in capacity development initiatives for young people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

To mark the end of the week this year, technology and startup enthusiasts from Peshawar met for an informal meetup and networking session on Sunday.