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In the Spotlight: E-Commerce
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Famed for its produce, Skardu boasts an abundance of trees laden with crisp, green apples, and sweet, fuzzy apricots. However, harsh weather and lack of infrastructure hinders locals vendors from expanding to a wider export market.
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In this era of digital marketing, businesses no longer have to be restricted to brick-and-mortar stores and can expand beyond traditional boundaries. To help address this gap, e-commerce students paired with local apricot and gem vendors to understand more about their businesses. They worked together to develop strategies and platforms to preserve, package and market these local products, opening the potential to export regionally and beyond.
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“Students fully immersed themselves in this experience. The excursions, both formal and informal, created a unique camaraderie. I have seen many go from being very quiet in class to challenging different viewpoints; it has been heartening to see.”
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Dr. Khawaja Zain-ul-Abdin
Assistant Professor, LUMS
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“The highlight of this experience for me was seeing the two groups of students getting along and working together. They not only learnt from us, the faculty, but from each other. It’s been a joy seeing these students grow.”
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Dr. Aman Abid
Assistant Professor, LUMS
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“A lot of the students in the class were already entrepreneurs but had no professional training. The field visits gave them innovative ideas. The classes were discussion based and helped build their communication skills. This was an experience of a lifetime for the faculty as well as the students.”
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Dr. Wajid Khan
Assistant Professor, UoBS
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"This programme is truly breaking down borders. It gave birth to different kind of skills and abilities in the participants. Students from different parts of the country got the chance to explore Baltistan together. This generated new business ideas, which can contribute to the economy of Pakistan and even compete in international markets."
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Shabana Batool
BBA ’24, UoBS
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“The opportunities for networking through this experience have been amazing. Me and Muhammad Usman Zulfiqar (BA-LL.B ’23) have partnered with a leading local entrepreneur to manage their social media marketing. But the best thing from this experience has been the friends I made. I feel like I have known my classmates for forever.”
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Irfan Ahmed
BA-LL.B ’23, LUMS
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The Winning Poster and Postcards
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For their poster, Fatima Shahbaz (LUMS), Muhammad Zain Rafique (LUMS), Muhammad Zohaib (LUMS), Gohar Ali (UoBS), Iqbal Hassan (UoBS), and Muhammad Afzal (UoBS) wanted to showcase the different facets of the Baltistan Experience - from their learnings about e-commerce in class and on the field, to their exposure to the rich Balti culture and breathtaking sights across Skardu.
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Students also designed postcards individually to highlight their experiences. Here is the winning entry.
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Eman Iqbal Khan (LUMS) used drawings to illustrate the generosity and love of the people in Skardu. She recalls how her newfound Balti friend picked a fresh apple for her on the first day they met. Even today, the friendships stand out the most to Eman. “What will last the longest in my memory is the people of Skardu," she says.
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Picture of the Day
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Set in Stone
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Baltistan is famous for its gemstones, and customers from around the country often flock to local vendors to buy topaz, tourmaline, and many other beautiful stones. Our students paired up with such small businesses to develop e-commerce platforms for them, and took some stunning pictures along the way!
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Picture courtesy: Muhammad Muneeb (BSc '23)
'Set in Stone' tagline courtesy: Ahmed Ehtisham (BSc '23)
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Preserving Ancient Heritage
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How do you give back to the city that became your home away from home? A group of determined LUMS students, and members of the LUMS Community Service Society, partnered with Skardu Development Authority to install trashcans at 8 national heritage sites throughout the city, in an effort to preserve them and ensure that others can enjoy these spots for years to come.
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With this, our features on courses comes to a close for this cohort.
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Bakshis (Thank You) for reading this issue of Stories from Skardu, an initiative by the Communications Team at the Office of Advancement.
Learn more about this journey by following us on
For feedback and suggestions,
email us at communications@lums.edu.pk
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