KARACHI: Meezan Bank, Pakistan\u2019s leading Islamic bank, has signed two exchanges of letters with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization \u2013 Investment and Technology Promotion Office, Bahrain (UNIDO-ITPO Bahrain) and with the International Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ICEI) to support startups, women and youth entrepreneurs, and MSMEs. Meezan Bank shall set up a dedicated in-house Focus Group offering non-financial services based on the Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion (EDIP) methodology, a programme developed by UNIDO ITPO Bahrain to help entrepreneurs and small businesses become investment-ready. The letters were signed by Dr. Syed Amir Ali, President & CEO \u2013 Meezan Bank, Dr. Hashim Hussein, Head UNIDO ITPO Bahrain; and H.E. Sheikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the ICEI. Based within the Bank, the Focus Group will provide structured advisory and non financial services to help entrepreneurs and MSMEs grow sustainably, attract investment and stay competitive. News Desk
\nThe Focus Group\u2019s planned services include:
\n\u2022 Enterprise development and business advisory services
\n\u2022 Capacity-building and training programmes startups and MSMEs
\n\u2022 Investment-readiness support and investor matchmaking
\n\u2022 Mentoring and coaching
\n\u2022 Technology and innovation linkages
\n\u2022 Market access and export promotion support
\n\u2022 Business incubation and acceleration opportunities
\n\u2022 Referrals to suitable financial products and services from Meezan Bank
\nUnder its exchange of letters with Meezan Bank, UNIDO ITPO Bahrain will help design, set up and run the Focus Group, by:
\n\u2022 Advising on its establishment and operational framework
\n\u2022 Transferring EDIP tools, methodologies and best practices
\n\u2022 Training designated Bank staff and advisors
\n\u2022 Supporting enterprise development, investment promotion and incubation activities
\n\u2022 Connecting the Focus Group with national and international partners, experts and institutions
\n\u2022 Promoting innovative entrepreneurship in emerging sectors, such as clean energy, the marine economy, creative industries and services for senior citizens.
\nDr. Syed Amir Ali, President & CEO of Meezan Bank, said: \u201cMSMEs, startups, and women and youth entrepreneurs are central to Pakistan\u2019s economic future. Yet, access to finance alone is not enough. Many promising businesses also need guidance, skills and the right connections to grow. Working with UNIDO ITPO Bahrain and ICEI, we are bringing an international methodology into the Bank helping MSMEs, startups, women and young entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses, access new markets and become investment-ready. \u201c
\nDr. Hashim Hussein, Head of UNIDO ITPO Bahrain, said: \u201cMeezan Bank\u2019s initiative is an innovative approach to strengthening entrepreneurship, bringing financial and non-financial services together under one roof. We are pleased to share the EDIP methodology, tools and international network to help make this Focus Group a sustainable platform for entrepreneurs and develop it into a regional model for entrepreneurship support in the banking sector.\u201d
\nH.E. Sheikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the ICEI, said: \u201cAs the Founding Chairman of Meezan Bank, our ambition was to demonstrate that Islamic banking could succeed at scale in Pakistan. Today, we have an opportunity to take that vision further\u2014from building a successful Islamic bank to helping build successful enterprises. Through this collaboration, we aim to help entrepreneurs turn promising ideas into sustainable businesses, creating jobs and economic opportunities. I hope this initiative becomes a model for Islamic financial institutions across Pakistan and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI: Meezan Bank, Pakistan\u2019s leading Islamic bank, has signed two exchanges of letters with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization \u2013 Investment and Technology Promotion Office, Bahrain (UNIDO-ITPO Bahrain) and with the International Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ICEI) to support startups, women and youth entrepreneurs, and MSMEs. Meezan Bank shall set up a dedicated …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":104773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104776,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104761\/revisions\/104776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}