YOUTH development has been the centre and focus of policies of present government which in fact is the right course to lift the people out of poverty and take forward the country on the path of progress and development. In yet another important initiative, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday approved enhancing upper limit of loans under Kamyab Jawan Program from five million rupees to twenty five million rupees, indicating also that the interest rate on these loans will also be reduced. As the world financial institutions are predicting poor economic indicators for Pakistan with unemployment rising due to the breakout of novel Coronavirus, it is important that our federal and provincial governments think out of box and use the untapped asset of the youth to keep the economy on the path of stability in these difficult times. And who can ignore the importance of youth entrepreneurship? We have before us many success stories such as that of China and Singapore as well as the European Union where youth entrepreneurship played an important role in stimulating their economies. This is because each entrepreneur brings about benefits not only for himself but for the whole community and the country as a whole. As they are self-employed, they often have better work satisfaction. Then most importantly, these businesses also create jobs for others as well. Youth entrepreneurship can lead to development of more industries. In this context, the Prime Minister has taken a very important decision of enhancing the upper limit of loans as this will enable the youth to enter into some big and meaningful business ventures. The implementation of the decision should also be started at the earliest as it will help the government maintain the necessary economic activity in the present situation. The youth will only be encouraged to take advantage of the scheme provided the loans are provided to them on less interest rates and easy instalments. They should be fully facilitated to promote and strengthen SMEs sector in the country.
