Shaban Khalid, former President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Chairman, ICCI Young Entrepreneurs Forum has taken over the charge as President, Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs-Asia (CAYE-Asia) from 1st January for the year 2016. He was unanimously elected for this position during the 4th CAYE-Asia Summit held in Putrajaya, Malaysia from 30th October to 1st November 2015. ICCI Young Entrepreneurs would host the next CAYE-Asia Summit at Islamabad in 2016.

 

After taking over charge, Shaban Khalid vowed that as President CAYE-Asia, he would focus on promoting entrepreneurship culture in the youth of the country as well as the Commonwealth member nations. He said he would make efforts to promote Pakistan’s economic interests in member countries of CAYE-Asia. He said CAYE-Asia member nations have huge potential to enhance intra-regional trade and he would play positive role to further strengthen linkages between the young entrepreneurs of these countries for boosting regional trade. 

 

Congratulating Shaban Khalid on taking over the Presidency of CAYE-Asia, Atif Ikram Sheikh, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that he should use this platform to promote a soft image of Pakistan in the member nations. He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was destined to create lot of business and investment opportunities and Shaban Khalid should use this platform to bring young investors of CAYE-Asia member nations to Pakistan to explore prospects of investment and joint ventures in CPEC projects. 

 

Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs-Asia (CAYE-Asia) was formed in 2011 comprising of member organisations from eight Commonwealth Asia countries including Brunei, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The alliance has now grown to include Nepal as an observer state and its model has been replicated in the Caribbean and East Africa as well. 

 

The young entrepreneurs of member nations gather every year at the annual summit to network, share ideas, build business linkages and learn from the experiences of each other. The summit brings together industry leaders and dynamic entrepreneurs from across the Commonwealth nations who are making significant impact in the region, particularly through jobs creation. Since its establishment, CAYE-Asia is now recognised as a best practice model in the Commonwealth due to its unique ‘networks of networks’ structure. The forum helps in promoting interactions in young entrepreneurs and contributes to lift economic growth as well as youth employment in the member nations.