Biz Today International, being one of the leading & pre-eminent online publication hosted ‘Biz Today lifestyle Summit 2021’ at Mövenpick Hotel on Friday 02nd April 2021. This event was hosted in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, was powered by Naya Nazimabad and in association with Mentor Suiting. Theme of this lifestyle summit was about ‘Celebrating Life’, which was aimed to uplift the overall mood of the society which has been in low spirits since the outbreak of pandemic i.e. Covid-19.
Biz Today Lifestyle Summit 2021, officially began when our beautiful and elegant host of the evening Ms. Zeelaf Haris Yameen invited the youngest member of Biz Today International, Ammar Rafiq to recite some verses from Holy Quran. After listening to some verses of holy quran our host of the evening Ms. Zeelaf Haris Yameen officially introduced herself as the founder and the CEO of Z-Hery Creations, an event management company aimed at making your events memorable.
First real task of the evening for Ms. Zeelaf Haris Yameen was to invite Mr. Shahrin Mokhtar Director Tourism Malaysia for welcome speech. Mr. Shahrin Mokhtar formally welcomed all the participants present at the summit and praised the role of Biz Today in promoting tourism for Malaysia. He also pointed out an increase in the tourism arrivals from Pakistan to Malaysia over the years. In 2019, Malaysia received 105,757 Pakistani tourists which was an increase by 42% compared to 2018. He hope that figures will increase with the passage of time. After his speech a promotional video was also played by Tourism Malaysia.
Up next was young and energetic Mr. Rafey Sheikh who is Chief Executive Officer of Mentor Suiting, who spoke exclusively on fashion. He said; “fashion is a type of clothing or accessories you wear. It is something that appears in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, hairstyles, lifestyle and body-proportions. With keeping all these glamorous as well as valid perceptions in mind we assembled our energies to bring forward a fashion brand named ‘Mentor’, which will be a brand that aims to develop innovative designs for our respected clients. With ‘Mentor’, we will ensure that you feel fashionable, confident glamorous and comfortable in our clothing”. He also added by informing us that the specialty about ‘Mentor’ is that it provides also bespoke services at clients desired location!”.
Ms. Zeelaf Haris then invited Chief Guest of the event, His Excellency Khair-ul-Nazraan Abd Rahman Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi to share his views on Biz Today Lifestyle Summit 2021 and His Excellency initially thanked Biz Today for inviting him at this Lifestyle Summit started by informing that Malaysia and Pakistan have been enjoying warm and cordial relations since 1957 and since then our relations that has grown from strength to strength. The Malaysian CG also mentioned the three day visit of Malaysian Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to Pakistan in March 2019 which resulted in our relations elevated to that of Strategic Partnership.
The Malaysian envoy said; “that our bilateral trade has been encouraging in the past few years although we experience declining trend of between 2.5% ~ 3% in the past few years. Tourism remains one sector where Malaysia remains committed to engage Pakistan more. We want Pakistani tourists to experience Malaysian lifestyle. To increase this I feel that we need fresh engines”.
On concluding note His Excellency Khair-ul-Nazraan Abd Rahman expressed his pleasure on arrival of Proton vehicles in Pakistan. He said; “Proton began in 1983 and is the brainchild of the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to fulfil his vision and desire to see Malaysia possessing the engineering and manufacturing capabilities in our pursuit towards industrialization. I highly commend and applaud the mutually beneficial partnership between Malaysia and Pakistan in the form of the joint venture that we see today between Proton and a local company, Al Haj Motor. By the first half of 2021, we will see locally-assembled Proton cars on Pakistani roads”.
To honour the valuable contributions of Ms. Nilofer Lalani and Shaikh Imtiaz Hussain in their respective fields, the Editorial Board of Biz Today International decided to confer upon them with ‘Biz Today Lifetime Achievement Award’, their awards were presented to them by the Chief Guest of the evening His Excellency Khair-ul-Nazraan Abd Rahman Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi.
This concluded the first of half the summit and a break of 15 minutes break was announced by our host Ms. Zeelaf Haris Yameen. Break resulted in participants freely mixing up with each other and networking session started in full swing over a cup of coffee.
First speaker of second session was Anika Zain Effendi, Chief Executive Officer of OurFoodGuru.com and she spoke in details on her topic which was ‘Food Delivery – Digital Enhancement on your Dining Table’. She started off by thanking the organizers Biz Today for such an event and also for inviting her to share her views.
Being the first female is food delivery business, Anika Zain Effendi said; “food delivery has become a business within itself, but the purpose is to reach out to the customers at their convenience, to place their preferred food on their dining table. There are two categories of such deliveries: 1) Restaurant to Consumer Delivery & 2) Platform to Consumer Delivery”. She further spoke about the kind of audiences that we have today who order mostly for food delivery, 1) Specific type and 2) Experimental Type.
She also shared some important statistics about food delivery business and informed us that; “1)Pakistan is the 5th most populated country in the world, 2)Pakistan is fast moving to be amongst the most online food items consuming countries, 3)Pakistan is in the race of digitizing everything possible from food preparations to food delivery and online payments, 4)Pakistan’s E-commerce sales has gone over US$ 900 million, this represents 0.34% of the country’s retail sales, 5)Pakistan’s e-commerce sales have witnessed a sharp rise of 93.7% since 2018, 6)Pakistan’s online food delivery business has witnessed a boost of 300% since 2017, 7)Pakistanis are estimated to be spending in excess over Rs. 274 billion on eating-out annually (post 2018), 8)Pakistani’s are spending almost 40% of their income on readymade food including eating-out and food delivery, 9)Pakistan has over 39 million social media users, 10)Pakistan has over 78.63 million internet users”.
With these kind of stats, it seems that the world is fast moving to another level of comfort which is excellence in Delivery Service and convenience at doorstep, making everything just a click away.
After a very detailed and informative review of food delivery business, up next was Megha Khan who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Megha’s Beauty Atelier. Megha Khan spoke on ‘Boundaries without borders: A 360° perspective’. Megha Khan informed that she started her career in Pakistan as a descendant of a salon owner and after completing studies, she joined aviation industry. With being with International airline, she got a change a chance to learn different skills from different countries. Her keen interest with beauty and skin treatments led her to go for different international certifications recognized by CIBTAC UK. After some time she settled in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from where go gained expertise in in micro-pigmentation and aesthetics and then started her business there as well. She moved back to Karachi with a concept of my new venture founded Megha’s Beauty Atelier at Bahria Town, Karachi.
Megha Khan is currently one of the 5 internationally recognized Phi Artists in Pakistan, who are certified for semi-permanent makeup and aesthetics. Megha Khan said; “my basic motto is to teach and disseminate what I have learnt. Also I want to help the Cancer patients, patients with alopecia or disfigurement. I am ready to teach to those, who want to learn. Because I want the women of Pakistan to be empowered with self-respect and self-esteem. But they have to be consistent, hardworking and have the spark to get up and get their right which has been deprived from them”. She further added by saying; “From a simple learner in field of beauty, to a learner in aesthetics and then being a master in field of semi-permanent makeup, has now given me a 360° change in perspective to handover the skills to a common women, who can be empowered, who can be strengthened and gain a thorough position with respect and dignity in the community”.
Mr. Johari Minal, Country Manager Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Consul at Malaysian Consulate in Karachi also shared his views during Biz Today Lifestyle Awards 2021. He started off by informing us that he would be sharing the goodness of Red Palm Oil which not many know or even heard about it. He shared with us that Malaysia has successfully engaged in oil palm cultivation since 1917 and currently is one of the top global players in the oils and fats market. Palm oil is the largest edible oil exported in the world accounting for more than half or about 57% of global oils and fats market. Malaysia contributed about 27% of world palm oil production and 33% of world exports of palm oil.
While palm oil is the most consumed oil worldwide, not many are familiar with Red Palm Oil. Red palm oil is produced in several areas of the world including Malaysia, West Africa, and Ecuador. It’s the unrefined form of palm oil used in food, oleo-chemical, cosmetics and other products.
Muhammad Hasan Khursheed, Director Food & Beverages at Mövenpick Hotel Karachi is seen as an expert when it comes to food and beverage sector. He has been in this field for two decades now and he shared his views and his valuable experience via his topic ‘Sustainable Eating’. Sustaining requires a lot of hard work and especially in this sector you will have to provide a diner with the very best of eateries and that too coupled with the very best possible services.
Nilofer Lalani, a senior executive of travel and tourism Industry, she has more than 4 decades of experience with her. She spoke exclusively on ‘Lifestyle and Tourism Malaysia’. She see’s Malaysia because of its natural beauty and considers Malaysia a place where you would want to settle down for the rest of your life.
She spoke in details about the beautiful beaches, landscapes and open borders that she had seen in Malaysia and she strongly urged everyone to consider checking out Malaysia at-least once in a lifetime. What makes touring Malaysia more easy and more convenient is its focus on open borders, minimal bureaucratic hassle with respect to travel and the efforts to promote tourism speak volumes about how this is a place that’s focused on improving the lives of the inhabitants. If you’re planning a Malaysia trip, then do the wise thing. Visit the travel website first and check out some of the great deals and offers available there. On concluding note Ms. Nilofer Lalani said; “Malaysia offers a variety of delights and is a perfect vacation spot whether you’re travelling alone, travelling with friends, or with family. It’s also a popular location for honeymooners who want to travel somewhere exotic without breaking the budget.”
Shweta Subram is an Indo-Canadian Singer & Performer. She mostly sings for Bollywood and Kollywood as playback singer and is the voice behind recently trending Jalebi Baby. She primarily sings in Hindi, though she has also lent her voice to other languages. She travels extensively between Toronto, Dubai & Mumbai. Shweta Subram is her video message from Dubai, UAE expressed her pleasure in being a part of BizToday Lifestyle Summit 2021 and she also praised the theme of the event which is ‘Celebrating Life’.
She added by saying; “today we are celebrating life, I know it has been a rough year due to pandemic/covid-19, but let’s be thankful that we have loved one around us. Being a singer I have always been on road, always travelling for gigs, shows and other events. I use to wonder when this all will end. This came as a blessing as I got to spend more time with the loved ones. Thanks to technology I go to the opportunity to connect with the musicians all around the world. So let’s celebrate life and celebrate every moment in life”. To enlighten the mood of audience Shweta Subram also sang few lines from a famous Indian song ‘jab koi baat biggar jaaiay’.
Aiza Irfan, Vice President Productions with TV One USA in here video message from Matawan, New Jersey congratulated Biz Today International for organizing this event. She said; “overseas Pakistan look forward to Pakistani content with a lot of eagerness and they allow same dramas, shows, music whatever that is trending in Pakistan. This has resulted in lessening of distances, although physicals distance remains there”. She further added by saying that; “news industry should highlight positive news more often as done here in west. We miss Pakistan a lot during special events like Eid, Pakistan Day, Independence Day etcetera and whenever Pakistani celebrities come here we enjoy them a lot”.
Finally Dr. Javaid Vayani was invited to deliver the vote of thanks speech, he thanked all the participants of the summit and specially thanked all the sponsors of the event starting by thanking main sponsors Tourism Malaysia and Naya Nazimabad (The City within the city) and Mentor Suiting’s without whom event couldn’t have taken off. He also thanked Imtiaz Enterprises, Arif Habib Commodities, Mövenpick Hotel, HMR Group, Up Rise Ventures, New Era Jewelers, Al Noor Petroleum, Ourfoodguru.com, Modeste Abayas, Mughal Rice by Gareeb Sons (Pvt.) Limited, Polani Group of Companies, Telemart, Usman Institute of Technology, Walkeaze, Toy Bricks Pakistan, Digital Cloud Hub, Anytime Juice by Shakarganj, E-magine, Artistic Towel Mills, Careem Pakistan, United Catering (UC) Pakistan, Jolen and Z-Hery Creations.
The evening concluded over a scrumptious dinner, friendly chit-chats, networking and beautiful clicks.
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