Nilofar Bakhtiar, Chairperson, National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) said that lot of work is to be done to bring women in the mainstream of economy and added that NCSW in collaboration with ICCI would work for economic empowerment of women so that they could play more effective role in developing the economy. She said that ICCI would be given representation in the Economic Empowerment Committee of NCSW to make joint efforts for the protection and promotion of women. She said this while addressing a large gathering of women during her visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).
Nilofar Bakhtiar said that this year 16 days of activism against gender-based violence will be celebrated from Nov: 25 to Dec: 10, 2021 and NCSW would organize various programs for women where violence against the women would be on top of the agenda. She said that ICCI should also organize an awareness session at this occasion about the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act and invite women working in industrial and business units to sensitize them about this act. She said that posters of the said Act should also be displayed in ICCI and business firms for the information of working women. She also briefed the women about the key initiatives of NCSW for protection of women and vowed that NCSW would work with stakeholders including ICCI for the better protection and empowerment of women.
Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that women are over half of our total population and it is not possible for Pakistan to achieve sustainable growth without bringing them into the mainstream of economy. He stressed that the government should formulate more conducive policies for the economic empowerment of women. He said that obtaining credit from banks for business is the most serious issue for women and urged that the government should focus on providing easy credit to women entrepreneurs so that they could achieve better growth in business.
Mian Akram Farid, Chairman, Founder Group and Chairman Skills Development Council said that SDC has trained 9500 women in various fields for their economic empowerment and more trainings would be provided to them. He said that women have the potential to earn sixty to seventy thousand rupees per month by getting training in various fields of IT and working from home. He said that women have good scope in various professions including pharmaceuticals, banking, hotel, digital marketing, sales. He said that by focusing on IT, Pakistan could enhance its annual IT exports from USD 2 billion to USD 30 billion.
Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh Senior Vice President, Faheem Khan Vice President ICCI, Ejaz Abbasi, Baser Daud, Muhammad Naveed, Khalid Chaudhry, Nasira Ali and others also spoke at the occasion and stressed that the government should make policies for economic empowerment of women.