The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) and Department of Social Welfare and Women Development NWFP Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a Women Business Development Centre (WBDC) in the provincial metropolis.
Provincial chief Smeda, NWFP Javed Iqbal Khattak and Director Social Welfare, Zahoor Khan signed the document in presence of a large number of women entrepreneurs here at the Directorate of Social Welfare. The NWFP Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development, Sitara Ayaz and Nauman Wazir, president, Industrialists Association Peshawar (IAP) and Director Smeda witnessed the signing ceremony.
The establishment of the Women Business Development Centre (WBDC) was the first initiative by Smeda aimed at providing support to women entrepreneurs in an exclusive women environment in all the four provinces.
Speaking on the occasion, the provincial chief Smeda Javed Khattak said that the business centre to be established in a space provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Women Development would be first of its kind in NWFP wherein, offices, exhibition/display facility and business development services including training programmes are being offered to women entrepreneurs under the roof of the same building.
The entire effort would be focused at encouraging new business start-ups and support to existing businesses including the right environment for nurturing women owned and managed businesses to an extent that these become sustainable; more specifically, in start-up period (first five years) when they are most vulnerable.
He said that the centre is a supportive entrepreneurial community designed to help grow small businesses. The centre for NWFP, he said would be established for providing assistance to home-based businesses or those in earlier stages of development. To provide conducive environment for women, he said the authority would initially establish 10 Business Incubation Centres, whose strength would be later extended to 15 to promote capacity building of women entrepreneurs.
The minimum time period for imparting entrepreneurship training in the incubation centre will be six months and maximum two years. The trainee women entrepreneurs will have to pay a token fee of Rs 1000 per month during the training. "The fee has been fixed with the purpose to just make the trainee women own the training," said Mr Khattak.
The project, he said was for a period of three years with a sanctioned amount of Rs 28 million. However, he said the extension depends on the performance and achievement of the centre. The initiative, he added will help generate employment opportunities through supporting new business start-ups and will go a long way in promoting entrepreneurial culture amongst the women folk of NWFP.
The Provincial Minister Sitara Ayaz while speaking on the occasion appreciated the project saying both federal and provincial governments are focusing on the development of women. The project, she said was initiated with the Smeda with the co-operation of the friendly Republic of Turkey. The Smeda would fulfil the requirements of the market-linkages and others.
She urged the women to come out and take initiatives and stop looking towards government for every matter. Nauman Wazir, president, Industrialists Association Peshawar (IAP) and Director Smeda appreciated the project and offered full co-operation in connections with the projects for women development in the province. He said that women usually focused on their own issues. However, he said that limiting women to the boundary of their houses was no justice.