Every day we come across website addresses trailing with “.com.pk”, “.net.pk”, “.org.pk”, “.edu.pk”, “.gov.pk” or simply “.pk”. To land on this site, you also typed “entrepreneurs.pk”. However, majority people in my network don’t have an idea who operates this “PK” thing for us. It is sad to mention that even many IT Professionals and Computer Science students in Pakistan don’t know about PKNIC (Pakistan Network Information Center (Pvt) Ltd.), the registry responsible for the .pk country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for Pakistan since most of the people acquire domain name via resellers with a hosting plan. Those who know about PKNIC are unaware of the fact that it is owned and run by Mr. Ashar Nisar, A Pakistani – American who graduated from UET Lahore in the 80s. (more…)

Jamil Goheer and Khurram Mir at APICTA 2008

I clearly remember it was December 2006 when I got to know about a Pvt Ltd. Company working within the CS Department at LUMS. I was like WoW! Why don’t we have such a culture here at FAST-NU.  Later, I got to know that men behind this venture are ex-FASTians who graduated a year before I actually came to FAST Lahore.

After June 2007, we extensively started hearing about this company which called itself the First Quality Assurance Company in Pakistan mainly because by that time Khurram Javed Mir, the CMO of the company was out from LUMS with an MBA degree. He definitely had a plan how to take this company forward. I remember how people used to gossip about this company especially their batch mates. Some liked the idea considering that their companies can now outsource the QA work whereas some were of the view that what a stupid idea they have come up with as every software company has its own QA department. In the opinion of the second lot, they were definitely a failure.

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EntrepreneursPK Team is glad to inform its readers that 5 Pakistanis have been honored with the Young Global Leader 2010 title by the World Economic Forum. Those who have made us proud this year are Mr. Amir Jahangir (CEO, JAAG Broadcasting (Pvt.) Ltd.), Mr. Hamid Yar Hiraj (Federal Minister of State, Commerce), Mr. Muhammad Ali Tabba (CEO, Lucky Cement), Syed Mustafa Kamal (Ex-Mayor/City Nazim, Karachi) and Mr. Umar Saif (Founder, Saif Center of Innovation (SCI) ).

It feels great to know that our fellow country men are part of the list that includes Roger Federer, Professional Tennis Player (from Switzerland), Evan Williams, CEO Twitter  (from the USA) and Mandla Mandela, Member of Parliament of the South African National Congress (from South Africa) etc.

This Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique, multi-stakeholder community of exceptional young leaders who share a commitment to shaping the global future. Each year the World Economic Forum identifies 200-300 extraordinary individuals, drawn from every region of the world. The individuals recognized are under 40 years of age and are evaluated on the basis of their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. Together, they form a powerful international community that can dramatically impact the global future.

WEF on 3^rd March 2010 has announced the names of 197 people from 72 countries who are to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders in 2010. Those selected are all stakeholders of society (business, social entrepreneurs, political&government, arts&culture, and opinion&media). They represent all regions: East Asia (43), South Asia (21), Europe (46), Middle East and North Africa (14), sub-Saharan Africa (17), North America (38), and Latin America (18) and this year’s selection has more gender parity than ever with 38% women.

Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global Leaders 2010 were chosen by a selection committee, chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, comprised of eminent international media leaders.

The 2010 honourees will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders community that currently comprises 660 outstanding individuals. The Young Global Leaders meet annually and this year’s summit will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2-7 May. It is the first time a summit will take place in Africa and it will also be the largest gathering of the community.

We wish and hope that the trend continues and 2011 YGL Honourees list contains names of many more local impact makers.