Launch of Commonwealth Youth Innovation Hub in Pakistan

It is with immense pleasure we announce Commonwealth Youth Innovation Hub in Pakistan under the Chairmanship of
Mr. Nabeel Qadeer.

Mr. Qadeer, one of the pioneers of Entrepreneurship ecosystem in Pakistan, played a key role in setting foundation of this ecosystem. With the notion to help entrepreneurs scale their startups into large-scale companies, he laid the foundation to his TV show – Idea Croron Ka (Million Dollar Idea) in 2017, which acts as a platform between investors and aspiring entrepreneurs. With over twelveyears of managerial experience, Mr. Qadeer also assumed the role of Director of Entrepreneurship at Punjab Information Technology Board. His work experience encompasses multiple domains including management information systems, entrepreneurship, change management, strategy & planning, business analysis and project management. Nabeel as the former Director of Entrepreneurship steered all initiatives that fell in the space of technology entrepreneurship backed by the Government. Projects like Plan9 – Technology Incubator, PlanX – Technology Accelerator, TechHub Connect – a co-working space for freelancers, Herself – an initiative to empower women and Whizkids – an initiative to instill entrepreneurial spirit in school going students are the initiatives he took charge of under this umbrella.

Mr. Qadeer presently assumes the role of Chief Innovation Officer at Superior Group. As the CIO of the group, he has the responsibility of instilling the agenda of innovation in the education system of Superior Network (which includes 1 university, 150+ colleges & 350+ schools). Apart from academia, his role spans across the entire media group that includes 2 TV channels; Neo television Network & Lahore Rang, Nai Baat Newspaper and Radio FM 106.6 – The Voice of Entrepreneurs.

Last but not the least; Mr. Qadeer is also the co-founder of a startup incubator called Innovation District 92 (ID92). Innovation District 92 is an incubation space for startups from all verticals that are seeking guidance in converting their raw business ideas to effective and profitable businesses.

The Commonwealth Youth Hub for Innovation Leadership as it’s called shall focus on the following: Social Cohesion, Peace and Security, Economy and Sustainability.

The CW Innovation Hub will broadly comprise of:

• Cities Initiative
• Space Initiative
• Enterprise & Investment
• Think Tanks on Global Issues
• Political Academy

The first and foremost focus of Youth Hub for Innovation and Leadership Pakistan shall be creating an ecosystem for startups/entrepreneurs.

At later stages, there are big plans of developing an entire city that includes incubators, accelerators, tax-free zones, business centers, Special Economic Zones and IT parks for youngsters.

In addition to this, the Hub under its Enterprise and Investment Initiative will be focusing on:

1. International internships,
2. Professional development courses,
3. Financial investment groups,
4. Social Responsibility Programs,
5. Technical Capacity Building initiatives and
6. Investment opportunities for Startups.

With the launch of first Commonwealth Youth City & Commonwealth Innovation Hub in Malaysia, Pakistan will be the second country amongst 53 CW countries to get its own youth city.

“The goal is to provide Pakistan with access to the benefits of globalized economic tools fairly and effectively. Hence, I see this project as bringing economic prosperity to the country by creating opportunities of trainings and development as well as equipping youth especially women with effective entrepreneurship tools.” – Mr. Nabeel Qadeer

We are excited to see what lies ahead and how Mr. Qadeer steers this in Pakistan.