The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and Peshawar Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PWCCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to resolve the key issues of women entrepreneurs and promote their economic empowerment. Muhammad Shakeel Munir President ICCI and Ms. Shahida Parveen, President PWCCI signed the MoU during a ceremony held at ICCI.
By signing the MoU, ICCI will support PWCCI in highlighting the key issues of women entrepreneurs for the attention of the policymakers and cooperate with it in its efforts for increasing the role of women in the economic development of the country. Both Chambers will strengthen mutual cooperation to help women entrepreneurs in business development and will raise the common issues of businesswomen with joint efforts at relevant forums for redress. Both trade bodies will cooperate in sending businesswomen delegations abroad to attend international trade fairs and exhibitions. They will work together to develop recommendations for the government to accelerate business activities and exports. They will also make joint efforts for promoting a positive image of Pakistan and for enhancing trade, investment, exports and tourism.
Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that only 1 percent women in Pakistan were entrepreneurs, which was not helping the country to realize its full economic potential and called upon the government to make greater efforts to encourage and promote women entrepreneurs for their better economic empowerment that would ensure robust growth of the country. He urged that the government should take policy measures to overcome the barriers for women entrepreneurs and encourage more females towards entrepreneurship for inclusive economic growth of the country. He assured that ICCI would fully cooperate with PWCCI for promoting the interests of businesswomen.
Ms. Shahida Parveen, President, Peshawar Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that growth of women entrepreneurs was very important for sustainable economic development of Pakistan. However, she said that women were facing multiple issues ranging from lack of easy access to finance to legal barriers that prevent them from establishing businesses. She urged that the government should address these issues to encourage women entrepreneurs. She hoped that the collaboration between ICCI and PWCCI would help in enhancing the role of women in the business field for their better economic empowerment. Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh Senior Vice President, Muhammad Faheem Khan Vice President ICCI, Muhammad Naveed Malik and Khalid Chaudhry former Senior Vice Presidents, Nasira Ali, Parveen Khan Durrani, Zehra Villiani and others also spoke at the occasion and called upon the government to make conducive policies for economic empowerment of women.