A Young Businessmen Forum was held at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on March 9, 2008. Students and young entrepreneurs of the local industry were invited to participate. SZABIST Islamabad sent a team of seven participants, which turned out to be the largest of the lot.

ICCI has decided to hold eight such forums. This was the first of the series. The purpose was to find out why students and young people do not enter into business and prefer to opt for salaried jobs. The main focus of this forum was to find out the causes and impediments that discourage the young entrepreneurs to establish their businesses. Participants were given ample time and opportunity to express their views and feelings. The points were noted, recorded and reviewed at the end of discussion session.

The role of ICCI is not only to organize such forums but to make suggestions to related boards/institutes to remove barriers and encourage young people towards starting small businesses. The forum was well organized and very well conducted. The date of the next forum will be announced later.

By participating in such forums, our students will not only benefits by learning through the experiences of the people in the business but would get an opportunity to relate the theoretical knowledge to realties of practical life.