Karachi: An informative and well organized E-Seminar took place here at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi by Harvard University. This event was part of Social Enterprise Seminar Series organized by South Asia Initiative at Harvard University in collaboration with Aman Foundation. The title was “Spurring Entrepreneurship: A Case for Inclusive Innovation in Emerging Markets—Lessons For Pakistan from China and India”
The seminar featured Dr. Tarun Khanna live from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA. Dr. Khanna is a professor at the Harvard Business School, Director of South Asia Initiative and Faculty Chair for Harvard Business School activities in India. He is also the author of the book, “Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours”.
The event was attended by faculty and students of 20 universities including IBA, KSBL, Sukkar IBA, COMSATS and others across Pakistan through video conferencing. The seminar was moderated by Dr. Shahid Qureshi, Associate Director for the Center for Entrepreneurial Development at IBA, with technical facilities provided by Higher Education Commission in Pakistan.
The CEO of Aman Foundation, Mr. Ahsan Jamil, introduced Dr. Khanna through his work on entrepreneurship in China and India and how it would help Pakistan in economic growth and job creation. Entrepreneurs are people who start or run their own businesses while taking financial risks.
Dr. Khanna began by pointing out the attitudes of younger people, which were the same anywhere in the world. He gave specific examples from China and India where entrepreneurs were able to create successful businesses with skills along with an ability to navigate the political landscape. In these examples the businessmen used demand and supply to create products that the market needed and fulfilled the political and social needs of society as a whole. Thus, they were able to align different private and public institutions even when they were not directly benefitting. Being more specific Dr. Khanna had some advice for Pakistani entrepreneurs. He said, “Pakistan has to find its own path by getting easy wins so as to motivate people and give them role models from the middle class. The society has to support such successful [ventures] by reporting it. The private sector has to come into action with a blue print in 2-3 years so as to apply it right away.” He recognized some success stories in Pakistan but stressed that they needed to be on a larger scale. His recommendation was to have a ridiculously big vision and to take very small steps. He also proposed a partnership between private and public sector where they would work together.
For teaching entrepreneurship as a subject in universities his view was that the classroom experience must be added with real life experience in the form of internships around the globe like Harvard Business School graduates.
Giving a message to the common man in Pakistan he stated, “Creatively and talent are evenly distributed across the world, without regard to ethnicity, religion, or social and political structure. The lesson of China and India’s development trajectories is that a variety of ways are available to unshackle creativity and unleash it on the world, to dramatic effect. No part of the world has a monopoly on wisdom. The democratization of talent means that we should all be solicitous of wisdom and insight wherever the contextual circumstances allows (sic) it to flourish.” And also he said, “…poverty doesn’t equal lack of creativity. Creativity and talent are not the monopoly of any location, structure or religion.”
He also highlighted his work on PIN (Pakistan Information Network) a project he is involved in and wished the people of Pakistan that they start thinking well about their selves and learn from their neighbors.
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