KARACHI: Engro Polymer & Chemicals, a subsidiary of Pakistan’s premier conglomerate Engro Corporation, hosted an insightful dialogue on climate change, construction materials and technologies of the future, building inclusive communities, and circular economy, to celebrate the Rural & Urban Development week at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Hussain Dawood, Chairman of Engro Corporation and Dawood Hercules Corporation, graced the event and fully appreciated Pakistan Pavilion in showcasing the incredible strength of the country. The thematic forum featured leading architects, developers, and construction sector specialists, including Shahid Abdulla (Principal & Founding Partner, Arshad Shahid Abdulla), Abid Bukhari (Country Manager, Irretec), Babar Siddiqui (CEO, Paragon Constructors), Ali Naqvi (Principal Architect, Ali Arshad Associates) and Ali Farooq (Director Sales & Marketing, Interwood).
Held in partnership with the Pakistan Pavilion, the event focused on encouraging the private sector, governments and the civil society to share knowledge, collaborate and reimagine the future of cities, whilst being cognizant of the cultural context in Pakistan. The speakers highlighted that the global pandemic has accelerated a transition towards sustainability to create a lasting impact in communities. The panel recognized the need for sourcing alternative materials, becoming energy-efficient, harnessing knowledge from indigenous communities and combining them with new technologies to influence design, architecture, and construction, to pave the way for resilient smart cities of the future.
According to Jahangir Piracha, CEO of Engro Polymer & Chemicals, “Engro’s emphasis on adopting a sustainability-centric and future-ready approach is reflected by this event that has brought together global experts and changemakers to deliberate on the future of construction in Pakistan. Our recent projects to make production processes more standardized, resource-efficient, and circular plastics initiatives reinforce our commitment to a sustainable end-to-end operation.”
The event also marked the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Engro Polymer & Chemicals and Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) to establish a Circular Plastics Institute in Pakistan.
This first-of-its-kind academic collaboration will aim to develop an action-oriented and data-driven roadmap for a path towards a zero plastic waste future in Pakistan. KSBL is known to prepare future leaders of tomorrow by setting up practices for embracing innovation and bringing digital transformation to education by making sustainable choices for Pakistan.
