Economic development of the country is not possible without the inclusion of women in every field from education to the economy. They should be included as part of the development process to take the country into a sustainable future according to a press release received by WealthPK.

The statement was made by Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) President, Kashif Anwar at the seminar titled “Empowering Women through Facilitation” arranged at LCCI headquarters in Lahore.

LCCI President said that this year has been declared by the LCCI chamber as the year of “business compliance and facilitation year. LCCI will facilitate every effort of the state for the inclusion of women in policy and development process. Women enjoy a special place in the Muslim world. Women in our society, sadly, do not enjoy the respect and status that they deserve. This is the reason that Pakistan has fallen behind in economic development since it has not fully harnessed the potential of women.”

The senior vice president of the LCCI, Zafar Mehmood, said that “LCCI has given a lot of tax incentives to women entrepreneurs. Women cannot make full use of economic opportunities because they are not included in the circle of information sharing. Many women have complained about this. LCCI has taken this drawback seriously and is developing a coherent system where all the information reaches concerned women on time. Financial assistance, however, is not the job of LCCI. LCCI is only a facilitator and a mediator.”

Fareeha Younas, LCCI Executive Committee Member shared her vision of facilitating women entrepreneurs. She stressed the need for timely dissemination of business-related information to women. She requested the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry to support women from the SME sector who have limited market access. She said that a permanent display center should be made for women entrepreneurs at LCCI, adding that many women entrepreneurs from rural areas have brilliant ideas but lack a platform to turn their ideas into a profitable reality.

Muhammad Tahir of the State Bank of Pakistan gave a presentation on the initiatives taken by the central bank to facilitate women entrepreneurs. His presentation was titled, “Loans offered at low interest rate by different banks for Women Entrepreneurs.” He also discussed the initiatives, Punjab Rozgar Scheme, Exclusive Account Services for women in banks, Sindh Bank’s Mohtarma Account, MCB Ladies Account and Faysal Islami Amal Women accounts.

Hassan Ali Qadri gave a presentation on “Tax Incentives for Women Entrepreneurs.” He also discussed taxpayers and their categories.

Dr Hafsa Batool of the International Resource Center, gave a presentation on “Women Empowerment.” She discussed various types of empowerment of women including economic empowerment, familial/interpersonal empowerment, psychological empowerment, legal empowerment, political empowerment, socio-cultural/social empowerment, and digital empowerment. She ended her presentation by giving an account of policy suggestions in light of research carried out at the International Resource Center.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk