The economic development of the country is closely related to the advancement of women and government should take measures to ensure provision of better education to women for enhancing their role in the growth of national economy.

This was said by Zahid Maqbool, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry in a statement.

He said female literacy rate in Pakistan is only 41.75% which is far lower than desired the levels. He urged the planners and policy makers to take initiatives for improving women education so that they potential could be harnessed for the development of the country.  

He said that women make around half of the Pakistan’s population and therefore, being a major segment of society, their role in the country’s development cannot be ignored.

He said women’s contribution in development have mostly been neglected in Pakistan despite the fact that they are an integral part of the economic process of the country . He said better education of women is the only best option to bring them in the mainstream of economy.

Zahid Maqbool said that economies of those countries have usually been making steady progress who provided better education to their women while the economies have been stagnant in countries where women remained uneducated and neglected.

He said in order to grow as nation government should empower women with education and economic freedom and take steps to enhance their presence in all fields of economy including education, IT, Telecom, Small and medium enterprises, Textiles, Banking, Health care, Fashion, Electronic and print media, HR and all other areas.

ICCI President said the acknowledgement of the role of women in country’s development is the first step towards their participation in the process. He said that government should create an environment for the women in which they can explore the opportunities and improve their knowledge and skill for contributing effective in national building process.

He said some measures to make the things better for women and their role in society in terms of development of the country include improving data on women’s economic participation, more allocation of resources for the betterment of female segment of society and increasing the proportion of women in education.