Shell Tameer Awards 2014 Reward the Entrepreneurial Spirit of Pakistani Youth

Of the 12 finalists, 4 top-notch entrepreneurs shone at the Awards Ceremony for their innovative business approaches.

As Shell Tameer celebrates a decade of generating entrepreneurship opportunities, four winners were awarded at the 7th Awards Ceremony at the Mohatta Palace, Karachi.

Twelve entrepreneurs were shortlisted from a total of 250 entries from across Pakistan. The Awards Ceremony, cosponsored by JS Bank, was held after an exhibition to showcase their businesses.

The categories and winners for this year’s Awards were:

Adamjee Insurance:
Ingenuity Award for a creative out of the box concept: Sanwal Muneer from Capture Mobility

Express Tribune:
Environment Award for positive contributions to the environment: Yasir Hasan from Smart Surgicol

EFU Life:
Changing Lives Award for the creation of social impact: Humaira Bachal from Dream Foundation Trust

Tamer Microfinance Bank:
Creating Opportunity Award for perpetuating business progress alongside community development: Fatima Tendai from Tendai Lamps

At the event, Seemi Saad, External Affairs Manager of Shell Pakistan Limited said: “the Shell Tameer Awards are a fundamental part of our enterprise generation efforts in Pakistan, ensuring that young Pakistani talent has a platform that highlights their achievement for countless others, elevating them to role models to spark socio-economic progress and change. If we hope to stay the growth of unemployment and provide youth with meaningful career options, we must continue to create such opportunities for them to shine – and I congratulate our winners here today on their incredible achievements.”

Judging criteria for the final awards focused on start-up viability, business strategy, innovation, entrepreneurial qualities and focus on social enterprise. The panel of prestigious judges included Mr. Haroon Rashid, Editor, BBC Pakistan; Ms. Neelofer Saeed, Founder, Hobnob Café & Board Member, The Citizen Foundation; Mr. Yasin Siddik, Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA); Mr. Badar Khushnood, Country Manager, Google; and Mr. Muslim Raza, Regional Manager, Small Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA).

Talking about Shell Tameer, Afshan Khan, Social Investment Manager, Shell Pakistan Limited said: “As we celebrate ten years of creating opportunities through Shell Tameer, and business innovation alongside Global Entrepreneurship Week events, we are creating space this year to focus on the benefits entrepreneurs create for society apart from their own profits. We are proud of the awareness we’ve contributed to creating over a decade. Now that we’ve created awareness around the concept of entrepreneurship, we want to see more young people not just starting their own businesses but doing so with an awareness of their impact on society at large.”