ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday stressed the need for promoting the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, terming it a farsighted strategy to sail the country out of a myriad of current problems in general and the economic instability in particular. The Prime Minister made these remarks as the chief guest in the closing ceremony of Discover- Business Plan Competition held here at the main campus of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). Federal Minister for Science and Technology (MoST) Mir Changez Khan Jamali, Chairman Higher Education Commission Dr. Javaid R. Laghari, and Secretary MoST Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar were also present at the occasion. Spanning over a period of seven months, the business plan competition named Prime Ministers Entrepreneurial Challenge was participated by students from over 30 Pakistani universities. The competition was held under the auspices of Offices of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC), headed by NUST Pro Rector Engr. Muhammad Mushtaq. A total of 250 teams, consisting of over 1200 students, took part in the mega event. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani distributed cash prizes among 5 teams that made it to the final round of the competition. The top winning team received an amount of Rs. 0.5 million while the second and third runners-up teams received Rs 0.3 million and Rs 0.25 million respectively. The teams winning fourth and fifth places got Rs 0.1 million each as a token of appreciation. While addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister lauded NUST for being one of the worlds leading institutions, which excel in transferring advanced scientific knowledge to the youth. He said that the successful culmination of the first-of-its-kind business plan competition at NUST is a milestone achievement, which holds promise for the national development. The future of a country depends a great deal on its young innovative minds. It is fortunate for a developing country like Pakistan to have this immense potential embedded in its youth. The incumbent government is fully aware of the utility of innovation and entrepreneurship in the economic development of the country and has, therefore, keenly taken initiatives towards achieving the desired goals, he said. The Premier highlighted, The primary focus of the government has been on empowering the youth by creating job opportunities and also by allocating ample funds to improve the quality of education in the country. He maintained that the provision of microcredit and internship programmes for the educated youth are vital steps taken towards preparing them for unprecedented future challenges. The Prime Minister in his speech fully endorsed the idea of Prime Ministers Entrepreneurial Challenge, and appreciated NUST for its successful implementation. He said, The event should be held annually with the full financial support of the government as the initiative augurs well for the future of the country. He urged the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) to facilitate the conduct of this wonderful annual event in every possible way. The Prime Minister extended his felicitations to Rector NUST Eng Muhammad Asghar and his team for organizing a unique event which, he said, offered implement-able business strategies and solutions. Eulogizing the private sector for its wholehearted support to make the business plan competition a great success, the Premier said that this type of industry-academia linkage is very useful for rapid industrial growth. He said that such models are worth emulating for other institutions of higher learning in Pakistan. We need to replicate this (model) at other institutions of higher learning as well. I would urge the academia alongside the industry to take a lead in improving the situation, the Prime Minister asserted. In the end, the Prime Minister emphasized that there should be a proper mechanism and conducive eco-system to commercialise the university research. In order to provide venture capital support to NUST, the chief guest directed Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Information Technology and Higher Education Commission (HEC) to prepare a comprehensive plan and present it to him at the earliest. Earlier, Rector NUST Engr Muhammad Asghar thanked the Prime Minister for gracing the occasion. He said that it was a historic day for the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. He thanked the Prime Minister for his kind support that helped translate the idea of business plan competition into reality. The Rector acknowledged that the business plan contest was a great learning exercise for the participating students through coaching provided by volunteer mentors from the industry. The Rector congratulated the winning teams and offered them free of cost housing at the NUST Technology Incubation Centre, where they could work on their respective business projects in a very conducive environment.