RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has organized a session titled Coffee morning for bringing awareness, discuss issues and an interactive question and hour session on women economic empowerment here on Wednesday. This time the topic was Green and Clean Pakistan.
Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Wendy Gilmour, who was chief guest on the occasion, said the Canadian government is fully aware of the climate and environmental challenges being faced by Pakistan and supports Pakistan’s efforts towards renewable energy like solar and Wind. She highlighted the Canadian government’s commitment to addressing the environmental challenges faced by the global community.
Pollution including plastic pollution was a global challenge that does not respect borders, she added. She asked participants that on climate change we all must adopt one slogan, “Think locally and Act globally”.
She said, Canada has recognized this challenge and is working to protect the environment and promote clean growth, both in Canada and abroad. The Canadian High Commission is pleased to work with Pakistan on our shared responsibility to safeguard the environment for generations to come,” she said. While lauding RCCI’s efforts in promoting regional trade, she further added that her country fully support to increase regional trade and investment.
Answering to a question, she said that the lives of Pakistani women are changing rapidly. It will be vital for a prosperous Pakistan to facilitate an environment which provides enough economic opportunities to engage women.
She said the Canadian Government was actively exploring avenues for increased skills development and opportunities for women’s entrepreneurship in Pakistan. She also lauded RCCI for establishing Women Business Incubation Center (WBIC) to help women entrepreneurs to establish and run their own businesses. She assured her full support and cooperation in this regard.
RCCI Chief Malik Shahid Saleem in his address said that creating opportunities and empowering women in entrepreneurship has always been Chamber’s priority. The main purpose of this initiative was to provide women a platform to excel in the field of entrepreneurship, he added.
On environment, the president RCCI commented that Pakistan is at risk of water scarcity and is among the 36 most water-stressed countries in the world. This is an alarming indicator of falling into the category of water-stressed countries with continuation of the trend ultimately leading to water scarcity. Pakistan is seventh in the list of ten countries which have been badly affected by the climate change. The remedy to mitigate the impact of climate change undoubtedly lies in planting more and more trees.
RCCI through its industry-Academia linkage program will initiate awareness campaign and will organize seminars and workshop to make Pakistan greener, he further added.
He said, RCCI being a pro-active business facilitation entity, believed in identifying and functionalizing such forums for women entrepreneurs to get into the main stream of the economy. President thanked the participants of Coffee Morning and said that an active participation of women entrepreneurs is required to make such sessions a successful event.
