Entrepreneurial trends in Pakistan during past couple of years remained encouraging — thanks to local incubators, accelerators, co-working facilities, competitions and local associations — however there is a clear lack of government backing for the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, preventing it to get to the next level, said a report published by Invest2Innovate and commissioned by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), an office of the World Bank.
Report claims that despite high activity from increased number of players and stakeholders during recent past, a notable disconnect between government and entrepreneurship ecosystem is hurdling formalized investments and specialized human resource for the sector.
Report, that was prepared with the help of a survey in which Invest2Innovate received 119 responses, said that there is a need for the government to address longstanding regulatory issues, as well as those related to infrastructure like electricity, gas, and security.
Report believes that government and federal agencies and institutions can play a significant role in diluting risk for investors, investing in nascent companies, and reducing barriers in access to finance.
Report said that perception issues related to Pakistan have plagued and deterred foreign investors, as a result indigenous networks and communities, led by local entrepreneurs and industry leaders are surfacing in good number, which is promising but these larger issues must be addressed to see large-scale and grassroots-level impact for a long-lasting change.
Invest2Innovate said that report was prepared while using the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostic Toolkit.
Report also details about the organizations and institutions that entrepreneur may need during their life cycle.
Complete report can be downloaded from this URL: http://invest2innovate.com/peer2014.html
Why bring the govt into this? Apart from security and delivery of amenities – which is bad for any other sector in Pakistan, including domestic use, the only place where I see the govt should play a role is to enable paypal in Pakistan. Otherwise I don’t see any role for the govt. In fact the further they stay away the better – PTA, I am looking at you!
lol.. did you read the article?
And how do you propose the government do that since our PM is not exactly a part-time Board Member at Paypal? Paypal is a private company.. you can’t coerce them to offer their services anywhere, you know.
Main reason why Paypal can’t come to Pakistan, even if it wanted to, was due to our banking regulations! Its a pain to even use credit card online from Pakistan!
So these regulations need to be changed to allow easier online payments system to permeate. That is the only way to help entrepreneurs and businesses who are looking at getting work/clients abroad. And this has remained a problem since Musharraf’s time!
Local start up scene is fresh and growing at a pace which our nascent market can bear. Micropayments are growing and people are getting more familiar with it, but i think it is too fragmented and awareness and ease of use of these systems is yet to mature to allow widespread adoption. Maybe the service providers of such services need to create more service awareness than just brand advertising!