News: CSF setting up 3 pilot business incubator projects
Name of NewsPaper:The Frontier Post
Date of Publication: :Thursday, 30 August, 2007
URL:

ISLAMABAD: Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) has started with its third operating window to boost the knowledge-driven economy in Pakistan through establishing business incubators and promoting venture capital.

The CSF, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), started with its operation in May 2006, said a press statement issued by the CSF on Wednesday.

To make business incubation and venture capital successful in Pakistan, the CSF has now undertaken initiatives working closely with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), which is a partner organisation of the CSF and both the organisations signed an MoU last year to support initiatives promoting knowledge-based economic development. Another essential component of the undertaking was to establish the business incubators.

The HEC and CSF together will develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation system to ensure successful and timely completion of the projects selected for the incubators.

Finally, the CSF will explore the possible financial involvement of other relevant bilateral institutions to share the cost of the relevant projects as well. The business incubation is a business support process that accelerates the successful development of start-ups fledgling companies by providing entrepreneurs with an array of targeted resources and services. These services are usually developed or orchestrated by the incubator management and offered both in the business incubator and through its network of contacts.

The main goal of the business incubator is to produce successful firms that will leave the programme financially viable and freestanding.These incubator graduates have the potential to create jobs, revitalise neighborhoods, commercialise new technologies, and strengthen local and national economies.