KARACHI: Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, Chairman Sindh Board of Investment said Tuesday that SBI has undertaken a program to encourage entrepreneurship in the province in collaboration with leading business schools of Sindh.

In first phase, 300 candidates from across the province will be selected according to agreed criteria and would be given six 6-month training under Entrepreneurship Development Program.

Training would be conducted by Institute of Business Administration Karachi and Sukkur. This he said during the contract-signing ceremony of Entrepreneurship Development Program here at SBI Office, Karachi.

Director IBA Karachi, Dr. Isharat Hussain and Director IBA Sukkur, Nisar Siddiqui and Secretary Investment Ms. Naheed S. Durrani were also present at the signing ceremony. Muhammad Zubair Motiwala informed the audience about the project and said that it is a pilot project of 6 months duration and would be conducted by two institutions to cater to candidates from across Sindh.

There would be two batches of 150 students each to be divided between the two business schools. Motiwala said that special emphasis would be given on the practical aspects of entrepreneurship with a focus on business development and management.

Basic agriculture, management and technical know-how would also be taught in the course. Regarding eligibility criteria, he said that students of age of 20-45 years would be eligible but some preference would be given to agriculture graduates.

Chairman SBI said that IBAs would conduct simple entry test prior to admission to ensure transparency and merit. Elaborating about the objectives of the program, Muhammad Zubair Motiwala said that present government is sensitive to the need of developing a culture of entrepreneurship in Sindh with focus on development of small and medium agribusinesses.

He further said that SBI desire to tap into the potential of the so-called youth bulge of the Sindh which like the rest of Pakistan constitute bulk of the population in order to turn them into asset rather than a liability.