Business women at a meeting here on Saturday have called upon the government to allocate special quota in plots for women entrepreneurs at all the Industrial Estates being set up in the province so that the goal of bringing industrial revolution could be achieved. The meeting was arranged by Women Entrepreneurs Committee of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), here on Saturday.
The provincial minister for Women Development, Ashifa Riaz Fatyana who was the Chief Guest highlighted various initiatives taken by the government for women development as well as their economic empowerment.
Among others, businesswomen including Munaza, Tanzeela, Bushra and Shamim Akhtar spoke on the occasion and highlighted problems being faced by them in their respective business fields.
Speaking on the occasion, the provincial Minister for Women Development, Ashifa Riaz Fatyana said that the government had already announced 'National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women' for empowering Pakistani women, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, or other considerations for the realisation of their full potential in all spheres of life, especially social, economic, personal and political. She said that the government has taken steps to remove inequities and imbalances in all sectors of socio-economic development and to ensure women's equal access to all development benefits and social services apart from ensuring the participation of women as equal partners in national development and decision-making processes in the community and society.
She further stated that the government has taken steps to ensure the access of poor rural women to land, agricultural and livestock extension services and support mechanisms and facilities; providing women easy access to micro-credit, especially through the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Rural Support Programmes (RSPs), First Women Bank (FWB), Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the Khushali Bank. She also highlighted steps taken by the department of women development.
Shamim Akhtar, who is chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs Committee of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) told Business Recorder, after the meeting that no doubt, the government has taken various steps aimed at economic betterment of women, but real issue is true implementation of governmental policies so that fruits of the same could reach to the businesswomen.
She was of the view that women entrepreneurs are facing liquidity problems and opportunities to excel their businesses. She disclosed that participants of today's meeting asked the government to take immediate steps for providing loans on soft term basis to women entrepreneurs so that they can expand their businesses. 'Most of the women doing businesses are associated with business entrepreneurs, cottage industry and services sector. There are also a large number of women who are doing business in an unorganised manner and their hard work is exploited by middlemen', she added.
Shamim Akhtar suggested that Pakistan has to ensure access to microcredit to all poor including women to achieve desired results in the right direction. About 1.2 billion people around the planet lack access to basic necessities and microfinance could be their pathway out of despair, she argued.
She further said the government had taken steps to ensure equality, justice and empowerment of women, which will certainly have impact towards promotion of over all quality of life of women in terms of health, education, and employment apart from ending violence against them.
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