Govt Working to Ease Regulatory Processes for Startups: IT Minister

Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication Syed Amin-Ul-Haque has said that the government will soon ease the regulatory processes for startups.

Addressing the Investment Conference organized by USAID and Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN) Silicone Valley as the chief guest, the minister said that an investment of $355 million was made in the startup ecosystem in 2022.

He said that to facilitate startups, we have drafted policy recommendations for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Federal Board of Revenue, and Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan. These recommendations will ease the regulatory processes for startups.

The IT minister said that Ignite is also developing a startup portal that will help investors to review startups under different sectors or thematic areas and this will help investors do their shopping. He added that startups would also be able to interact with investors and pitch their proposals through the portal.

The minister appreciated the efforts made by Junaid Qureshi of OPEN Silicon Valley and USAID for doing a roadshow around Pakistan to promote US investment in Pakistan.

The conference’s primary focus was to discuss the global investment climate, as well as the challenges and opportunities present in Pakistan’s investment landscape and how we as foreign investors, can increase investment in Pakistan.

The Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN) is a network of thousands of Pakistani entrepreneurs and professionals all around the world, working and leading some of the most innovative companies in the world.

The conference was attended by Chief Secretary Sindh Dr. Suhail Rajput, US Counsel General Nicole Theriot, Ignite CEO Asim Shehryar, Jahan Ara of Katalyst Lab, Junaid Qureshi OPEN Silicone Valley, Dr. Farah Essa, and prominent professionals from the IT industry.