Responsible capitalism.

Byline: Amna S. Sandhu

Amidst the current political polarization and dysfunctional institutions, it is imperative for the private sector to step up and change the world for the better. Private sector has proved to be dynamic in nature and promote innovation and creativity. They have the ability to support activities with positive impact on society. And with the recent rise in small social enterprises, profit with purpose is becoming the new norm. CEO's of the future want their companies to be acknowledged as forces for good.

In 2018, the Edelman Trust Barometer shows that globally people had more trust in businesses as compared to in the government. Almost 64% of people expected CEOs to lead a social change as opposed to their government. And 84% expected CEOs to have a say in policy debates related to social issues. This critical juncture provides an opportunity. Can social enterprise be basis for the future business models?

This question becomes even more imperative given that recent evidence suggests the inability of governments and civil society to work in isolation towards the world's most pressing problems. Majority of the current impact investment has been confined to a niche but now it's time for the private sector to step up in the form of social enterprises and dynamic public-private partnerships. In the last three decades, private sector has attempted to tackle climate change, gender gap and other imperative issues. Private sector also has a tendency for a strong bandwagon effect and collectively they have the power to change corporate investment behaviour towards sustainable systems and infrastructure.

Pakistan enjoys a privilege based on its youthful demographic profile. Our median age is 22 years and almost 64% of the population is below the age of 30. Based on this, technological growth is relevant and urgent as we have young, digitally-savvy population with decent smartphone penetration rate but suffering from high youth unemployment rate. This provides an opportunity to support start-ups and create jobs by reducing the hassle around e-commerce. Moreover, focus on training on digital and data skills for youth, men and women.

SMEs already play an instrumental role in Pakistan. SMEs constitute nearly 90% of all the enterprises and employ 80% of non-agriculture labour force while contributing almost 40% to the GDP. A 2017 report by Planet N reported that the number of start-ups launched after 2010 increased to 723, with 68...