Start-up potential.

THE amendments to the Companies Act, 2017, will help tackle issues that pertain to the definition of start-ups, protection of the latter's minority shareholders' rights, stock options for their employees, etc. The improvement in the start-up regulations should help encourage entrepreneurship and innovation. But the development of a conducive start-up ecosystem is impeded by many other issues. The job market is changing globally, with more and more young graduates preferring to work for themselves. Hence, we see start-ups becoming an integral part of the economy in a growing number of countries all over the world. Start-ups not only promote innovation and the use of technology, they also create jobs and help explore new sectors of the economy.

In Pakistan, the start-up culture is yet to take hold, although we have seen quite a few technology companies grow and create space for themselves in the last few years, helped by 3G/4G and the increasing use of smartphones. There are numerous reasons for the slow development of a vibrant start-up environment, beginning with our education system that discourages independent thinking and...