PESHAWAR – At NIC Peshawar, there’s a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and engagement. Each day consists of identifying problems within the country, and what young entrepreneurs can do to create a solution, execute it and bring it into the local market.
Mr. Jahanzeb Taj, Chief Business Operating Officer (CBOO) at PTCL, visited NIC Peshawar to meet the team and the startup community there. He, not only appreciated the efforts of the entire team, but shared his corporate experiences and gave valuable insights regarding commercial strategies and global trends for their startups.
After reviewing several products being developed by the startups at NIC, he was impressed at the selection of the ideas as they have huge global demand and prospects. He highlighted the market gaps in the technology that require innovative solutions, like payment gateways and distribution sector and encouraged the startups to adopt a proactive approach in their businesses, as the global market is changing very rapidly, and the need arises to evolve and adapt with the changing times. To help with the progress of the startups, he pointed out the sectors that have a huge business potential on the local level.
In 2018, LMKT, and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), announced the formal inauguration of National Incubation Center (NIC), Peshawar, funded by the Ministry of IT&T and Ignite Fund. Since then, NIC Peshawar has been received very positively by academia, public and private sectors with significant partnerships and MoUs lined up with leading organizations and universities.
PTCL has collaborated with both NIC Peshawar and Karachi on multiple occasions to empower the startup culture in Pakistan, which is essential to boost the economy of the country.
The PTCL management has participated as a panelist to judge the Mentor Idea Review session at NIC Peshawar, where innovative Startups and Founders from KPK presented their business ideas. The interactive session covered presentations on idea viability to market sustainability, real customer problems to their solutions, success or failure of the business, business revenue models, business name impact & memorability and leadership qualities.
The PTCL team also invited a startup to HQ Islamabad and guided them to focus on market research and how to position organic peanut butter in the local market, turn it into a viable business and take it forward with a strong marketing, branding and communication strategy
In addition, PTCL hosted startups and entrepreneurs from NIC Peshawar, who presented their ideas, business models and prototypes to the senior management at PTCL HQ in Islamabad. The session was led by Dr. Daniel Ritz, President & CEO, PTCL, along with senior executives of PTCL. Murtaza Zaidi (Director, NIC Peshawar), participated with top startups including E-Guard, Azadi E-Bike, Bera, Eleven.pk and NANO IT Solutions.
Being a national company, PTCL has been successful in providing opportunities to the youth and developing their talents for the future of Pakistan. Not only does this enable startups to rebuild the infrastructure of Karachi and Peshawar in an innovative way, but also helps to improve quality of life for all citizens.
