Daily Times

Media Times Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shehryar Taseer enthusiastically moderated the session Soft Power, Promoting Pakistan on the Global Stage at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi on Sunday during the 021 Disrupt Technology & Entrepreneurship Conference.

In the panel discussion, five iconic celebrities including Pakistan’s legend Wasim Akram, Shaniera Akram, Shehzad Roy, Aamina Sheikh and Hina Bayat were present. Commencing the discussion Shehryar Taseer said that promoting Pakistan’s soft image by tourism is one of the best tools, which is likely to happen if we wipe away the elements bringing a bad name to Pakistan.

Media Times CEO Shehryar Taseer engaged all the panellists with his questions that kept the audience applauding. Singer and social worker Shehzad Roy said that in Zindagi Foundation; more than 4,000 girls were getting education. The government is supposed to think over providing equal education, child abuse is supposed to be finished, he also emphasized to have children educated when it comes to sex education.”Parents and teachers must teach every child that none of the doctors should ask to touch your private body parts and unfortunately 1 out 5 of us is sexually harassed”, he added.

In reply to Taseer’s question, cricket legend Wasim Akram informed how it was important for any person looking to join sports, to be physically and mentally fit and be engaged in healthy physical activities. “Also, the media is supposed to be positive. Every television channel shows politician arguing among themselves with the anchor playing the role of a referee,” he lamented. “Instead of improving English a cricketer should focus on his bowling, batting and fielding, Pakistan under sixteen team even does not have ‘Sport kits’ “, he said.

In reply to Taseer’s question, cricket legend Wasim Akram informed how it was important for any person looking to join sports, to be physically and mentally fit and be engaged in healthy physical activities. ‘Also, the media is supposed to be positive. Every television channel shows politician arguing among themselves with the anchor playing the role of a referee,’ he lamented

Hina Bayat discussed over the mainly issues happening in Pakistan, incest and violence, gender discrimination can be wiped out by creating responsiveness in society, parents must get closer to children, now Pakistani dramas are being translated into other languages, it is therefore, being a journalist and producer, I feel content is unique. It is making good image of Pakistan in the world, she replied to Taseer in discussion.

Shaniera Akram threw light upon bringing Pakistan in the list of peaceful and first world country, she also used the sentence again and again ‘My homeland Pakistan’. “It irks me when I see garbage at the Karachi’s beaches; I am concerned about early mirages of the girls”, she said.

“However, wherever I go in UK, USA and Australia, people ask about the positive things about Pakistan, which make me really very happy”, she supposed.

She said, “We all seem afraid to lose our culture but we shouldn’t be. Just having culture does not mean we need to live in the 1900s. We need to modernize our culture and reinvent ways to do things”.

She further said that gets hundreds of messages on her social media accounts from overseas who keep asking if she really likes living here and she answers it’s amazing! They need to come see for themselves. In the session, two-day conference aimed to stir conversations that strengthen the Pakistani ecosystem, by hosting thousand of disruptors, who are entrepreneurs, investors, influencers, mentors, and professionals on the occasion 65 speakers came from 20 diverse industry sectors.

During the conference, six hands-on skill building workshops for budding entrepreneurs on Storytelling, Community-Building, Mindfulness, Empathy Mapping, Raising Investments, Pitching for Fundraising and three distinct roundtable sessions exploring Investments in Pakistan, Social Impact & Sustainability and Diversity & Inclusion took place on the occasion. Moreover, 20 start-ups pitched in Startup Rapid Fire rounds in front of an audience that was in hundreds.