Sindh Govt. is taking measures to mitigate the constraints faced by Women Entrepreneurs, Qasim Naveed Qamar
Karachi, Sindh
CLICK (Competitive and Livable City of Karachi) Investment Department, Government of Sindh and IBA Aman Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) in collaboration with IBA Alumni Affairs Department arranged on Thursday a summit, “Unlocking the power of Women Entrepreneurs.”
Ms. Shazia Marri, Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety & Chairperson Benazir Income Support Program was the Chief Guest.
Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) for Investment and Public-Private Partnership Projects and, Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director IBA were also present.
Panelists included Sayeeda Mandviwala, CEO & Art Director of Toni&Guy and CEO of the Sri Lankan Ayurvedic Franchise Spa Ceylon. Misbah Naqvi, Early-Stage Investor, Co-Founder & General Partner at i2i Ventures, Fauffman Fellow, Tara Uzra Dawood, President Dawood Global Foundation, Ladies Fund, Nadia Patel Gangjee, Founder Sheops, Founder & CEO Femprow. Many women entrepreneurs showcased their work by installing the stalls in the in the IBA, city campus vicinity of the event.
“Entrepreneurship and decent work are the bedrocks of economic empowerment. They support the economic empowerment of women and men, families, communities, and countries,” said Ms. Shazia Marri addressing the summit.
She said, “There is growing global consensus on women’s economic empowerment as a force multiplier for good governance, economic growth, poverty eradication, Population control, ending hunger, achieving sustainable consumption of food, production patterns, environmental sustainability, and achieving SDG vision 2030 overall.”
Special Assistant to Chief Minister for Investment and Public Private Partnership, Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar said, “There are several structural barriers for women but the major structural barrier is women’s lack of access to productive assets which means that women have less collateral to raise capital to invest in a business. As result women remain in sectors with low barriers to entry and limited growth potential.”
“Although women-owned enterprises have been the target of microfinance interventions, there has been a dearth of activity supporting “the missing middle,” or mezzo-level financing for women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with high growth potential.”
Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar added, “Sindh Investment Department through CLICK initiative is creating ease of doing business and mitigate the constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in Sindh.
He said, “The Investment Department, Government of Sindh is taking initiates to facilitate women through simplifying the business procedures, automating the processes, and providing single-window operations (S-BOSS) to business people especially women entrepreneurs who can apply 240 plus Registrations, licenses, Certificates and other Permits online within their home vicinities after the successful implementation S-BOSS (Sindh Business One Stop Shop).
Qasim Naveed Qamar, said that Investment department with IBA is conducting a study to identify the constraints faced by women-led business. The outcome of the research study will enable the Sindh Government to take necessary actions for facilitating women as a major contributor to the economic growth of the province.
The ceremony concluded with recognizing the efforts of Sindh Investment Department, World Bank Group for its assistance in the reform process, appreciation to the CLICK team for its diligent efforts under the headship of Secretary Investment, Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi and making special thanks to IBA Aman Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and IBA Alumni Affairs Department for collaboratively arranging an event to appreciate women entrepreneurs. (PR)
_______________
