KARACHI – foodpanda, the leading e-commerce platform of the country, signed an agreement with Bank of Punjab to provide financing to registered foodpanda Homechefs under Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Programme. Furthering this objective, the first loan of PKR 1 million was disbursed to Mr. Khalid Javed Akhtar from Sahiwal, who is a certified chef from COTHM and is running his home based food business under the name of The Abaan’s Kitchen and has been a foodpanda home chef since 2020.
Under this partnership, loans up to Rs. 25 million are to be given to enterprising homechefs who are desirous of commencing or expanding their home-based food business, but need financial support.
This ceremony was held at foodpanda Head Office in Lahore where Mr. Ghulam Ali Khokhar – Head Government Initiatives Division R&PSL Group represented Bank of Punjab (BoP), while foodpanda was represented by Mr. Ahsan Malik Head of Homechefs, and Ms. Binte Fatima Rizvi Head of Partnership of Homechefs.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ghulam Ali Khokhar said, “BoP is currently the top performing bank with a total disbursement of more than Rs. 5.8 billion under KJ YES. BoP encourages more and more Homechefs to come forward and avail this exciting opportunity and become successful entrepreneurs. The Bank of Punjab is constantly looking for partnerships with companies such as foodpanda where we can work for socio-economic uplift of the country.”
Ahsan Malik, Head of Homechefs, shared his thoughts, “We have partnered with BoP to facilitate and fast track loan applications of foodpanda Homechefs so they can build and scale their businesses. We are extremely pleased that our strong collaboration has resulted in the first loan to be processed and disbursed in record time, with many more applications also making their way to the final stages’
A dedicated mechanism has been put in place by foodpanda to guide and handhold interested home-based food entrepreneurs. Binte Fatima Rizvi, Head of Partnerships, Homechefs, said “To facilitate and make the loan application process as seamless as possible for loan applicants, we provide guidance via online tutorials, videos on our Homechefs Youtube channel, and a dedicated Kamyab Jawan helpline number where Homechefs who are interested in applying for the loan are provided end-to-end guidance on the application process, important do’s and don’ts, required documents and most importantly how to prepare a business plan to ensure successful loan disbursement.”
Khalid Javed Akhtar, shared his views, “I feel extremely honoured to be the first foodpanda Homechef recipient of Kamyab Jawan loan. I am extremely grateful to foodpanda, Bank of Punjab, Prime Minister Imran Khan and SAPM Youth Affairs Mr.Usman Dar for helping small businesses realize their dreams with a program like Kamyab Jawan that provides substantial business loans on extremely simple terms and low mark up. I will be utilizing this loan to expand my kitchen space, purchase equipment, expand my menu and hire staff to manage kitchen operations. I have been part of foodpanda’s homechef family since 2020, and now I can proudly say I am a foodpanda ‘Kamyab Jawan’ Homechef!
