The 3rd International Business Conference and Exhibition (IBCE) 2018 was inaugurated today at the Expo Center, Lahore. The focus areas for this year are Building and Construction, Renewable Energy, and Home Appliances. Mehmood ur Rasheed, Provincial Minister for Housing and Public Health, was the chief guest on the occasion. The opening session was attended by a large number of dignitaries, government officials, architects, town planners, faculty members and students. Rehmatullah Javed, Ex-President FPCCI and Advisor, UMT, Dr Yusuf Awan, Dean, School of Architecture and Planning (SAP), Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, President, Institute of Planners Pakistan (IPP), Engineer Dr Tahir Masood, Dr Tahir Mustafa, MD NESPAK, Ibrahim Hasan Murad, President ILM Trust, and Dr Muhammad Aslam, Rector UMT.
Addressing the opening session, Abid H K Shirwani, DG UMT and Chief Organizer UMT, said that we are holding the IBCE at a time Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad, who originally conceived the idea, is not present among us. Yet, we are committed to carrying forward his mission. He added that one rarely finds educational institutions organizing business conferences and exhibitions. In this respect, UMT scored a first in 2016.
Dr Yusuf Awan, Dean, School of Architecture and Planning (SAP), paid rich tributes to Dr Hasan who had laid the foundation of IBCE in 2016. He said that the conference will hold 2 parallel sessions (architecture and town planning) for 2 days while 9 international delegates are also participating. Dr Awan said that today’s world is defined by commercialization and entrepreneurship. Globalization has led to unrestrained flow of ideas and technology. There are enormous benefits of globalization but it also calls for increased competitiveness. Interdependence is the key to prosperity in the modern world.
Rehmatullah Javed, Ex-President FPCCI and Advisor, UMT, represented the LCCI at the event. He commended UMT for taking the initiative to organize IBCE and said that no other university has such strong linkages with trade and industry. The credit for this goes to the Late Dr Hasan, who was a friend as well as a great visionary.
He was of the view that the government program for building 5 million housing units is a great initiative and can help the small and medium enterprises. He said that for the first time in 31 years, the government has allocated Rs 100 billion for the development of the SME sector. This is a step in the right direction – Punjab alone has 87% of SME’s in Pakistan.
Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, President, Institute of Planners Pakistan (IPP), said that the role of planners is essential to the construction and town planning industry if we bear in mind that the comfort and convenience of the residents is supreme. He said that site planning, town planning, land use and refill, housing and architecture and civil engineering are the major factors which determine the viability of a project.
Dr Tariq Mustafa, MD NESPAK, said that he was pleased to note that the mission of Dr Hasan is flourishing because his team is working tirelessly towards it. He added that this is the right time to host the IBCE 108 as the government has announced a massive housing sector program. Such projects are needed to kickstart the economy.
Lt. Colonel Irfan Ijaz, who represented REAP, gave a backgrounder to the organization which was setup in 2009. He suggested that the 5 million housing units announced by the government should have built-in solar systems as the country was facing a shortfall of 5000 megawatts.
Giving the concluding remarks of the inaugural session, Dr Muhammad Aslam, Rector UMT, thanked everyone for their participation and cooperation. He said that we are indebted to our distinguished guests. The IBCE 2018 presents an ideal opportunity to share the latest business models to achieve prosperity and pave the way for technology transfer and innovation. This is the only way to have a world free from hunger, disease and poverty.