Iqra University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Nassar Ikram visited the Sindh Enterprise Development Fund and called on Khizar Pervaiz, Chief Executive Officer of SEDF, for a meeting focused on exploring potential avenues of collaboration between the two institutions. Accompanying the Vice Chancellor was Umair Ahmed Khan, Manager of IU CORE and Programme Head of SkillUp, whose presence reflects the direct operational relevance of the discussion to Iqra University’s existing entrepreneurship and skills development infrastructure. The meeting represents a significant step toward formalising a relationship between one of Pakistan’s established private universities and a regional enterprise development fund whose mandate centres on strengthening Sindh’s broader entrepreneurial and economic landscape.
The discussion centred on three interconnected priorities that together address both the supply and demand sides of entrepreneurship development within the Hyderabad and Tharparkar regions. Promoting entrepreneurship as a viable and supported career pathway formed the foundational theme of the conversation, reflecting both institutions’ shared interest in expanding the population of individuals within these regions who view starting and building a venture as a realistic and achievable pursuit rather than an option reserved for those with pre-existing access to capital and networks. Expanding skill-based training programmes that lead directly to entrepreneurial ventures represents a more specific and actionable dimension of this priority, connecting Iqra University’s existing SkillUp programme and IU CORE entrepreneurship centre with SEDF’s broader institutional mandate and resources in a way that could meaningfully scale the reach and impact of both organisations’ existing work.
Strengthening the startup ecosystem in Hyderabad and Tharparkar specifically reflects a recognition that meaningful entrepreneurship development requires geographically targeted attention rather than a generic, undifferentiated approach to ecosystem building across the broader Sindh region. Tharparkar in particular represents one of Pakistan’s more economically underserved districts, with development challenges that differ substantially from those facing more urbanised centres like Hyderabad, and a genuine commitment to strengthening entrepreneurship in both contexts simultaneously suggests an ambition to address economic development needs across a meaningfully broad and diverse geographic and socioeconomic range within the province.
The involvement of Umair Ahmed Khan in his capacity overseeing both IU CORE and SkillUp gives the discussion a practical grounding in the specific programmes and infrastructure that Iqra University already has in place and that could form the operational basis for any formal collaboration that emerges from this initial meeting. For SEDF, partnering with an established university entrepreneurship centre and skills training programme provides access to an existing pipeline of students and trained individuals who could be channelled toward the fund’s broader enterprise development objectives, while Iqra University gains access to SEDF’s institutional resources, regional reach, and enterprise development expertise that could meaningfully strengthen the outcomes of its own entrepreneurship and skills programming. Through the strategic partnerships and joint initiatives that both institutions are now exploring, the collaboration aims to empower aspiring entrepreneurs, enhance employability outcomes for the students and trainees passing through these programmes, and contribute to sustainable economic growth and development across Hyderabad, Tharparkar, and the broader region that both institutions are positioned to serve.
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