IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is working to increase support for smaller businesses in Pakistan by increasing the availability of business management training opportunities, which will help businesses grow and create employment in the country.
IFC hosted a one-day seminar in Karachi on May 11 to promote the use of Business Edge, launched in 2009, an IFC management training product that helps strengthen the skills of business owners and managers, improving the performance and competitiveness of their businesses.
The seminar was opened for the owners of smaller businesses, banks, and multinational corporations, to raise awareness about the benefits of Business Edge in Pakistan, enabling more businesses to benefit from implementing training topics. Khawar Ansari, IFC's Business Edge Country Co-ordinator, said, "Small and medium sized enterprises are catalysts for growth and employment generation.
By expanding the reach of IFC's Business Edge programme in Pakistan, where business training is often difficult to access, we will provide a greater number of smaller businesses with the skills they need to grow and create jobs." IFC's Business Edge is delivered by selected local training partners and certified local trainers and sets a new standard for business training in developing countries. It was rolled out in the Middle East and North Africa in 2004 and is available in Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, and Yemen, and in other IFC regions including Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa.-PR