KARACHI: Members of the Provincial Assembly, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi and Tanzila Umi Habiba, have stressed the need to change the mindset of society as working women are still not acceptable at the higher ranks.

Speaking at an event held at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to mark the International Women’s Day, they said that working women deserved to be given due respect and equal rights.

Appreciating Zubair Motiwala’s suggestion, they also urged women entrepreneurs to set goals and highlight their achievements of the whole year on this particular day.

MPA Nusrat Abbasi was of the opinion that the situation in urban areas was not so bad as compared with the rural areas where the women were largely being suppressed all the time.

MPA Tanzila Umi Habiba said, “We, the women, need to be made economically strong as economic empowerment was the only way that leads to women empowerment. We admit we are different but no less than anyone hence we must be provided equal rights and opportunities at all the platforms.”

Speaking on the occasion, BMG chairman Zubair Motiwala pointed out that the Women’s Day, which is being celebrated since 1911, should not remain confined to just a celebration only, but women entrepreneurs must highlight on this particular day all their achievements of the previous year and set targets for the next.

He was of the opinion that though women had succeeded in achieving what they demanded in the past when the International Women’s Day movement began, yet their participation was still too low not only in Pakistan but also in the rest of the world.

“In the Netherlands, 40 percent are working women whereas even in the United States, somewhere around 30 percent are working women and in Pakistan, this figure must be very low as compared to the developed countries,” said Zubair Motiwala. “Women can become good entrepreneurs and are no less indispensable to society than men.”

He said that women were confronting a lot of problems due to the shrinking number of employment opportunities because the cottage and home industry in Pakistan had been steadily dying.

He urged the government to save this crucial industry.

KCCI president Shariq Vohra, in his welcome address, also advised women entrepreneurs to set targets for the whole year and make all-out efforts to achieve them.

“Every initiative taken by the women entrepreneurs will be fully supported by us,” he said.

Women Entrepreneurs Subcommittee chairperson Durre Shahwar Nisar appreciated the all-time support and cooperation extended by the BMG chairman who had always encouraged women entrepreneurs to participate in the KCCI’s activities.

“The KCCI is and will always be a vibrant platform for women entrepreneurs,” she added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021