ISLAMABAD: Forty Pakistani companies including 15 start-ups will exhibit their potential at a global technology conference, LEAP, being organised by Saudi Arabia from February 1-3 in Riyadh.
Azhar Ali Dahar, minister (trade and investment) at the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh, said this on Sunday, adding, “This is the first time Pakistani companies will be arriving in Saudi Arabia in a big way since the focus of these firms has traditionally remained on Europe, the United States and Canada.”
He said that the Pakistani trade mission in Riyadh will set up two pavilions at the event in collaboration with the Pakistan Software Houses Association, Pakistan Software Export Board, Ministry of IT & Telecom and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
He said the trade mission wants Pakistani companies to explore huge opportunities in the information technology sector of the kingdom which was poised to experience huge growth under Saudi Vision 2030.
“We have been seeking Pakistani companies, other than those selling food and traditional items, to target the Saudi market and information technology was always considered to be one of the potential sectors,” Dahar said. “We are confident that Pakistani IT firms will benefit from Saudi Vision 2030 which will allow the kingdom to invest more than $400 billion in various sectors.”
He said the Pakistani portion of the exhibition would be inaugurated by the Ambassador to the Saudi Arabia Lt Gen (retd) Bilal Akbar.
The trade mission is also planning to organise a networking meet-up at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce in collaboration for Pakistani and Saudi companies, industry leaders and investors to engage in information exchange and business matchmaking.
Ignite CEO Asim Shahryar Husain, talking about the event last week, said, “It is a proud moment for Pakistan, MoITT, Ignite and our NICs that 12 NIC startups will be participating in LEAP 2022. It will provide a global platform to Pakistani startups to pitch their business ideas and products to foreign investors. 2021 was a great year for Pakistan startups where investment grew by 5 times over 2020 and 2022 looks even better.”
One NIC startup named “MyTM” had participated in a similar event at GITEX 2021 and had won the first prize in the “Creative Economy” category of Supernova challenge. This opened new networking opportunities for MyTM to expand further and to raise investment from foreign investors. “This is the benefit of participation in international events because it provides exposure to our startups and creates new networking and investment opportunities for them” said the CEO.
The 12 NIC startups which will be participating in LEAP from 1st to 3rd February include ExpertFlow (Healthtech), Mapalytics (AR/VR), Stech (AI), Exbid (Shared economy), Student1stop (Edtech), TB-AI (Healthtech), BizB (Ecommerce), Smart Helmet (Cleantech), Asani.io (AI/Big data), Hukum Janab (Services), Mytm (Fintech), and Arm Rehab Technologies (Healthtech).
As many as 350 speakers from 80 countries, as well as 700 innovators and start-ups from around the world with 40,000 local and international visitors will participate in the conference.
The event will also host “The Rocket Fuel Startup Competition” where startups will exhibit & pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, angels, VCs and government stakeholders. There is an opportunity to win total awards worth $1 million for startups. Ignite had informed startups at its National Incubation Centres (NICs) in December 2021 to apply online for this startup competition.
