Visit to NUML Rawalpindi ( Regional campus)

On 30th of May,Team Food insecurity and Malnutrition visited NUML Rawalpindi.We interacted with the students there and launched awareness compaign to make people learn about the Food insecurity status in Pakistan and to aware them that how they can play their role at their end to avoid food wastage and to strengthen Food security in Pakistan.We also highlighted the importance of nutritious food in our lives for healthy lifestyle.

We conducted interviews of various students over there to know about their understanding about Food insecurity and Malnutrition.They were very cooperative and well treated us .We also distributed brochures among them .The students and the faculty members of NUML( Rawalpindi) highly appreciated us to take such an amazing initiative of doing work for this increasing issue of Food insecurity in our country.

Visit to Pakistan Agriculture Research Council

Team Food insecurity and Malnutrition visited PARC :Climate, Energy and water research Institute and had a brief meeting with *PSO/Director CAEWRI who is a professional hydrologist with a 25 years of experience in research,academia and consultancy services.Currently he is serving as Director Climate Energy &Water Research Institute in Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC).

We had a great meeting with Dr.Bashir Ahmad .He briefly explained us that Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), is an apex agricultural research organization which is responsible for National capacity building for production . The council has aspired to modernize its research agenda to meet the emerging challenges of agricultural sector of the country.

He also make us learn about the modern technology of irrigating the crops that is “Drip irrigation system” adopted from the drip irrigation company of Dubai.

He also gave highlights of his 15 -national as well as 10-international projects ,he also shared alot of successful stories of testing new technologies at selected Farmer fields of NARC and other research centers all over the country i.e Gilgit ( Skardu) , Balochistan (Thar),Bahawalpur ,Karachi and DI Khan research center.

It was really an informative session for me and my team. He highly appreciated our work and applauded the supervision of *Dr.Athar Rashid* . Moreover he well acknowledged our efforts for this project . Overall it was a new experience and another fruitful visit for team Food insecurity and Malnutrition.

Visit to Punjab Food Authority

On 23rd May 2022, Team Food insecurity and Malnutrition visited Punjab Food Authority that is an agency of the Government of Punjab which regulates food safety and hygiene in the province of Punjab.We had a fruitful meeting with worthy Assistant Director Food Authority Rawalpindi (Punjab) Azmat Ali.

We asked few questions about the parameters on which Food Authority works that how food quality and food safety is measured. He told us that PFA regulates and monitors the food business in order to ensure compliance by formers, manufacturers, distributors, importers and other stake holders in orders to provide safe food.As we know healthy diets are too much important for humans sound health. He briefly told us about food quality that they check the material quality if it is out of their substandard they fine them and if their quality is too much low and cannot be compromised at all then they seal those particular shops, restaurants or fast foods shops. Secondly he told us about food safety in which environment food is being prepared if ingredients are good but environment is not good they also do inspection for this. Thirdly their main aim is to quality endurance at any cost. They go for inspection at anywhere surprisingly. They apply fine if any one don’t come to meet required SOPs. We learned a lot of things and had a very amazing experience with Assistant Director.

Visit to Imtiaz Cash & Carry

On 28th May 2022, Team Made in Pakistan for Sustainable Growth visited different cash & carries to get to more about how people are looking towards local products and do they are interested in buying local products. For this purpose, we conducted an interview with the HR & Branch Manager of Imtiaz Cash & Carry Gulberb Greeb Branch Mr. Shayan Tariq.

We asked him several questions and we were glad to know from his remarks that there is a big misconception that Pakistani brands are not compatible and reliable.

He mentioned that there are many Pakistani-based local companies that are in competition with international products and also, there is a big demand from the public for these products. He told us there is a variety of  Confectionery and Condiment products are very demanding in public and people tend to prefer them over imported products.

Confectionery products are everyday products that use on daily basis such as Chips, Biscuits, Candies etc.

Condiments are basically those items that are added after cooking like sauces, yogurt, jams, etc.

Overall it was a good experience for us as well as we came to know more about our local products and their demand in public and how people are looking towards them.

At the end, we had a photo with him and we also share our awareness brochure.

Visit to Pakistan Broadcasting Cooperation (Radio Pakistan)

On Wednesday, 1st June 2022, Team Made in Pakistan for Sustainable growth had a visit to PBC News Pakistan Broadcasting Cooperation (Radio Pakistan) to understand the role of traditional media in the empowerment of local products in Pakistan because there is a large segment in our society prefer radio over other Media outlets.

Team Made in Pakistan for Sustainable Growth had a fruitful discussion with Director News "Mr. Abdul Rauf", Coordinator News "Mr. Nasir ul Najam" and controller News "Mr. Ghazanfar Aziz" followed up by a visit to News Room.

They mentioned that in Pakistan Raio has its separate audience that tends to listen to Radio over other Media outlets (2.6M on Twitter & 1M on Facebook) Radio always played a crucial role in promoting Made in Pakistan Label through different communication tools and strategies in our program.

They emphasize that there are certain parameters that are needed to be taken care of before starting an aggressive media campaign about any product.

Following are the Parameters/Steps:

• Standard & Grade of product
• Quality of the product
• Ingredient of the product

They also mentioned that before measuring the success of a product through media it is important for the producer/manufacturer to understand whether the product is capable enough to meet the quality standards.

They also mentioned that the "Made in Pakistan Label" is very crucial to address because an effective campaign on this can lower our dependency on International products that can help us save our Foreign Reserves and eventually strengthen our economy.

Overall it was a good learning experience for us as well Visiting Radio Pakistan and getting a chance to have a closer look at how they operate.

In the end, we had a group photo with their core team. They also Acknowledged our efforts in spreading awareness regarding this important matter by issuing us an Appreciation letter.

Visit to National Incubation Centre

On Wednesday 1st June 2022 Team Made in Pakistan for Sustainable Growth had a visit to National Incubation Centre Islamabad. We had a meeting with Assistant Manager "Mr. Rehan"

It was an interactive session, we asked him several questions about National Incubation Centre and how they operate in response to questions he briefed us that:

National Incubation works on technological and demanded skills. They encourage innovative business ideas of young entrepreneurs and connect them with investors to excel through their ideas and make their passion profession.

Uptill now they have initiated 293 startups for them 233 are running successfully. 193 startups have graduated from the year they start (2016).

National Incubation connects Pakistani entrepreneurs with Industry experts and investors. NIC offers state-of-the-art facilities, work space, and access to mentors.

Overall, it was a fruitfull session in an enabling environment. In the end, we share our brochure and had a group photo with him.

Visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce

Made in Pakistan products for sustainable growth is the Social Action Project (SAP)  of students of BS-4, Department of Governance & Public Policy, Numl Univerity Islamabad under the supervision of Dr. Athar Rashid in which we will be promoting and aware people about  Made in Pakistan Label. The purpose behind this initiative is to encourage our youth to look for Pakistani local indigenous products for economic growth instead of going for expensive imported products.

By doing this we can boost our SMEs (Small-medium Enterprises) and that can play a key role in strengthening our Economy and eventually will help us in achieving Sustainable Economic Growth.

Team Members:

• Muhammad Waleed Akram
• Raja Wajahat
• Aaliya Haroon
• Farhat Bibi

Team Made in Pakistan for Sustainable Growth visited the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry where a meeting was set with Secretary-General Mr. Majid Shabbir at his office.

Team Made in Pakistan had a detailed discussion with him about how ICCI is playing its role in empowering. And how he sees the quality of products we are producing. We also told him about our initiative as well which he appreciate in the first place.

According to him: 

It is very important for us to change our mindset and psychology. We have a strong inferiority complex towards our local production and manufacturing. We all usually prefer imported products over local products because we are tuned in such a way that our local products are not up to the mark.

He further mentioned that we produced some great quality products also but we do have some loopholes and flaws that need to be taken care of but that is not the whole story. First, we must need to start owing and embracing our local products and stop thinking of them as minors and lesser made.

He further added that it is important for us to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in our youth and educational institutes should play an important role in this regard because there is a big gap between what the market demands and what scale of education and skill-building we are offering to our youth. He said there is a dire need to fill this gap because youth is considered as the cream of any nation and it is our responsibility to provide youngsters with demanding skillsets and education that connects to the market demands.

Furthermore, he told us that youth is lacking interest in the Private sector over the government sector because of the job security and other perks and privileges in the government sector. This stereotypical behavior should be stopped and a conducive environment and opportunities should be created where people start taking interest in initiating their startups and businesses. 

He also mentioned if we see developed countries they strictly encourage government jobs and encourage their youth in coming toward private practices and building their startup companies.

He also Briefs us that ICCI plays a key role in spreading awareness among our youth through different exhibitions, seminars, webinars, dialogues and workshops to encourage more and more people to come towards the private sector. They also plan to work with universities in building the registration process and connecting business ideas with investors and making the banking process easy which they are about to start soon. They are also suggesting policies and plans to The State Bank of Pakistan on this as well.

He told us that we are the first chamber in our whole country to win an International Award for Entrepreneurs Best Practices in Doha.

In the end, we thank him for his valuable time and consideration. We also presented him with our awareness brochure and took a picture with team members.

Visit to Numl Incubation Centre

Made in Pakistan products for sustainable growth is the Social Action Project (SAP) of students of BS-4, Department of Governance & Public Policy, Numl Univerity Islamabad under the supervision of Dr. Athar Rashid in which we will be promoting and aware people about  Made in Pakistan Label. The purpose behind this initiative is to encourage our youth to look for Pakistani local indigenous products for economic growth instead of going for expensive imported products.

By doing this we can boost our SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) that can play a key role in strengthening our economy and eventually will help us in achieving Sustainable Economic Growth.

This initiative of ours will be directly contributing toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8 and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9.

GOAL 08: Economic Growth & Decent Work

GOAL 09: Industry Innovation & Infrastructure 

Our team:

• Muhammad Waleed Akram
• Raja Wajahat
• Aaliya Haroon
• Farhat Bibi

On Monday, 9th May 2022, We visited the Numl Business Incubation Centre (BICON) and had a very informative meeting with Dr. Atta Ullah. He gave us detailed information on basic business ideas and startups. He also enlightens us with his point of view on how creative business ideas help students to strengthen business development.

Numl Business Incubation Centre (BICON) aims to empower students through entrepreneurial grooming and to produce competitive entrepreneurs by using innovative global trends.

That"s all from this blog. Stay tuned for upcoming activities..................!