Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has called upon the government to focus on promoting the handicraft products of women entrepreneurs that would ensure their economic empowerment, reduce poverty and improve living standards of families in rural and urban areas. He said that Pakistani women were producing marvellous handicraft products including fabric, material, embroidery, jewellery, carving, mirror work and many other items that needed better exposure in domestic and international markets for enhancing their trade and export. He expressed these views while inaugurating as Chief Guest Baji & Co Concepts Store that brought together versatile products of 40 women crafters on a permanent display under one roof in the federal capital. He appreciated the efforts of women for producing high quality handicraft products, which showed their potential to excel in this business.
  Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that women’s handicraft products have tremendous potential for sale and make substantial contributions to exports besides employment generation, especially in underdeveloped areas, therefore, he emphasized that the government should pay close attention to this sector for its better development and growth. He said that the government should set up handicraft training centres in rural and urban areas for skills development of women in this field so that they could produce demand-driven handicraft products that would improve their trade and exports besides economic empowerment of women artisans.
ICCI President said that handicrafts have a bright future in Pakistan as they do not require heavy capital investment or infrastructure such as machinery, buildings and energy, therefore with better policies, attention and focus of the government, women’s handicraft products could achieve global acclaim for their exquisite designs, utility and craftsmanship and earn lot of foreign exchange for the country through exports. He urged that the government should arrange permanent display centres for handicraft products in major cities to showcase their potential for trade and exports. He appreciated the initiative of Baji & Co Store management for bringing a lot of women crafters, who were doing business from home, under one roof and hoped that it would create new opportunities for better growth of their home-based businesses.