The Business Incubation Centre (BIC) of International Islamic University Islamabad IIU-BIC as part of its entrepreneurial drive has joined hands with Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries (ICSTSI) to organize a Twin Cities Startup Competition in collaboration with COMSATS University Islamabad, where 35 startups from over 11 universities took part in this event.
Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation Prof. Dr. Shahid Mahmood Baig (SI) graced his presence as a Chief Guest during the opening ceremony of this event. In his remarks Dr. Shahid said that it made him extremely happy that young innovators are engaging in development and entrepreneurship and lauded the efforts of IIU-BIC and ICSTSI for joining hands to strengthen Academia-Industry linkages.
Ms. Noshaba Awais, Director (RI), Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad was guest of honour who encouraged startups to keep working hard and become driving force behind positive change in the society.
Mr. Muhammad Jamil (Executive Member ICSTSI) and Mr. Aqeel Abbasi, Executive Member ICSTSI, appreciated about the response from all participating universities for engagement in this competition and lauded the response by IIU-BIC to support this competition, on this occasion he also appreciated the cooperation by COMSATS Islamabad for providing the venue for this activity.
According to details the top 10 startups from this competition will be invited to take part in the Business Expo 2023 in which is going to be held during the month of May, 2023 being organized by ICSTSI, in which all will get a chance to interact with industry, promote their business models and also get an opportunity to get into joint collaborations.
Earlier, Engr. Muhammad Ahsen Mirza, Director IIU-BIC in his opening remarks emphasized that these activities are the foundations to get startups recognized, however it is extremely important for startups to have strong willingness if they are to become entrepreneurs.
Engr. Usama Bin Mansoor, Assistant Director IIU-BIC, who was among the jury members to evaluate participating startups also spoke on this occasion and lauded role of ICSTSI to take a positive step to collaborate with IIUI, which he hoped would be a continuous process and many such activities would be organized in the near future. He added that that all startups competing should find methods of working together especially in this difficult economic situation, so that more viable solutions can come forward and support the local eco-system.