LAHORE: The Pakistan Single Window (PSW) was commended on its efforts in empowering women entrepreneurs by FBR Member Customs (Operations) Madam Zeba Hai Azhar during a seminar held in Lahore. The PSW Khadijah Women Entrepreneurship Program aims to establish a reliable and sustainable mechanism for training and enhancing the capabilities of women, enabling them to engage in cross-border trade actively.
Speaking at the seminar Member Customs Operations, Madam Zeba Hai Azhar said, “It is encouraging to see the dynamic initiatives undertaken by Customs officers in PSW which is an effort of the Pakistan Customs Service. The Khadijah program is a well thought out project and will benefit many women professionals and entrepreneurs all over Pakistan. It is very heartening to see many young dynamic officers and women contributing so much for the development of women entrepreneurs and exporters”
The Khadijah program in Lahore was another step of PSW towards fostering women’s participation in international trade and aligning with the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to gender equality and economic empowerment for women. The Program has been designed to equip and empower women entrepreneurs, enabling them to play a more significant role in the dynamic landscape of cross-border trade.
In his welcome address, the CEO of PSW Syed Aftab Haider said, “We are delighted to host you all in the wonderful city of Lahore which is known for its history, arts architecture, culture but above all for its entrepreneurial spirit. The Khadijah Women Entrepreneurship program is our humble contribution to encouraging more women entrepreneurs to join cross border trade and expand the reach of their products to international markets. Through collaborative efforts, PSW aims to create a nurturing ecosystem that facilitates women-led businesses to take advantage of the digitalized ecosystem, unlocking their full potential to benefit our nation’s economy.”
The Khadijah program serves the purpose of transferring knowledge and information to women entrepreneurs and equipping them with the requisite know-how, skills, and expertise, which enables them to upscale their existing businesses for an export market and sustain and grow them over time. Also, it covers training on the whole business and trading cycle, including technical and financial inclusion, technical capacity building, information about trade-related regulatory bodies, and social media marketing initiatives for uplifting women-led businesses.
Women entrepreneurs from Karachi shared their success stories and experience of how PSW’s Khadijah program has been instrumental in helping them scale their businesses to meet the challenges of cross-border trade.
As a leading public sector entity, PSW is committed to serving the community and society through inclusive and equitable policies and operations that support the economic growth agenda of the Government of Pakistan and are fully aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030.
PSW is an integrated digital platform that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. It aims to reduce the time and cost of doing business by digitalizing Pakistan’s cross-border trade and eliminating paper-based manual processes. PSW’s digital platform will transform the trading landscape of Pakistan. It automates and integrates cross-border trade-related procedures of Customs and other government agencies (OGAs) making trade faster, more accessible, and budget-friendly.
