Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs/ Minister of State Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said that the government decided to revive several initiatives launched in 2013 by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif including PM’s Youth Program, Skill Development Program, Laptop Scheme, Internship & Scholarship Programs and Youth Financing Scheme so that Pakistani youth, which comprises of 68 percent of country’s population, could stand on its feet by starting their own businesses and become independent instead of becoming a burden.
Speaking at a Consultation Session on National Youth Employment Policy held at Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), she mentioned that financing scheme available for youth offers interest free and collateral free loans of up to Rs500,000 while loans beyond this amount and up to Rs1.5 million were also being offered at 5 percent interest rate and collateralized loans in between Rs1.5 million to 7.5 million were also being provided at an interest rate of 7.5 percent. “The government is keen to encourage youth to start their own businesses so that they could become independent and play their role in the progress and prosperity of the country”, she added.
President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, Senior Vice President KCCI Abdul Rehman Naqi, Vice President KCCI Qazi Zahid Hussain, Former Senior Vice President Talat Mehmood and KCCI Managing Committee Members along with Senior Government Officials attended the session.
She informed that the Skill Development Program initiated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs intends to improve skills of at least 100,000 youngsters annually through training and in this regard, the efforts were being made to acquire the required funds. “75 percent of the required funds will be allocated for Information Technology development and other technologies as not only the IT sector but all other industries will now be switching to automation while the remaining ’25 percent will be utilized on those traits which are exportable’.
“We also are trying to get accreditations from different institutions for our training programs so that degrees/ certifications attained by our trained youngsters are acceptable internationally which was very important”, she added.
In response to President KCCI’s suggestion, she agreed to form a joint committee between the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Karachi Chamber and sought KCCI’s nominations for the same so that this committee could be activated at the earliest which would create a win-win situation for everyone.
President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, while appreciating the efforts being made by SAPM on Youth Affairs, extended KCCI’s full support and cooperation for all the future endeavors in addition to encouraging maximum number of youngsters from Chamber’s platform to go for starting their own businesses which would prove favorable for the economy.
While highlighting the hardships being faced by the industries in smoothly carrying out their businesses, he urged the government to take steps to support industries and bring down the exorbitant cost of doing business as it was these industries which were capable of producing thousands of jobs for our youth.
He was of the view that Pakistani youth carries huge potential but this potential was, unfortunately, not being utilized which requires special attention and collective efforts otherwise our country will continue to suffer badly because of the brain drain.
President KCCI also suggested that a joint committee needs to be formed between Karachi Chamber and Ministry of Youth Affairs which could give valuable suggestions on how to make the government’s schemes for youth successful and result-oriented. He also advised SAPM to establish a helpdesk at KCCI where youngsters would surely be able to comfortably inquire about and benefit from financing facilities and other schemes for youth.