ISLAMABAD: Women are almost half of the Pakistan’s total population and encouraging them towards entrepreneurship could be a powerful source of economic growth and development in the country.
These views were expressed in a meeting between First Women Bank Ltd’s (FWBL) Women Entrepreneurship Development Regional Head Parvin M Khan and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) President Zafar Bakhtawari.
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Parvin M Khan visited the Chamber House to explore the possibilities of collaboration between the ICCI and FWBL for the economic empowerment of women. Both the organisations discussed to work jointly and identify areas for providing trainings to women for their capacity building and skills enhancement.
She said that the FWBL is committed to women’s economic empowerment through its Capacity Building & Skills Development programmes. “We offer women trainings in the areas of entrepreneurship, beauty and computer skills. So far, 3 such programmes have been completed in which 60 women were trained and the FWBL would continue to train women to build their capacity for self-employment in various sectors.
ICCI President Zafar Bakhtawari said that sustainable economic development requires the maximum participation of women in business and economic activities as their engagement would contribute significantly to poverty reduction and financial independence of people. He said the Pakistani women have great potential to excel in every field but due to lack of financing & trainings opportunities, their talent remains untapped. He stressed that government should make policies for the effective promotion of women’s entrepreneurship that would change the face of our economic development.
Bakhtawari said women’s economic empowerment could play a crucial role in the socio-economic uplift of Pakistan and the government should focus on removing all barriers which impede their full participation in the national economy. He said the FWBL should provide easy credit facility to aspiring women entrepreneurs as lack of access to finance is a major hurdle in their entrepreneurship pursuits.
He said the ICCI has already taken many initiatives for development of youth and women entrepreneurs and would continue to work closely with other institutions including the FWBL for the economic independence of women.
