FPCCI SVP for strengthening women's entrepreneurship

Senior vice president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Shaikh Khalid Tawab has underlined the need to motivate women to participate in entrepreneurial activities as their share is just 3% in total entrepreneurship in Pakistan nowadays.
He said on Friday that the women entrepreneurship was acknowledged as an important untapped source and their participation was essential for economic growth and development. He said that the number of women entrepreneurs, ratio of women chief executives in the corporate sector and the share of women in the holding of corporate ownerships and assets were almost negligible in Pakistan.
"In Pakistan, only 11.8% companies have women ownership while in Turkey has 25.4 percent; Philippines 62.9%, Indonesia 22.1 percent, Uzbekistan 29.2% and Tajikistan 32.7%," he said adding that the women contribution was much higher in the rural economy of Pakistan, and as per the sectoral statistics, 74 percent of women were engaged in agriculture wherein their services mostly remain unpaid.
He urged all to realise that without involving women entrepreneurs actively in economic activity, Pakistan couldn't achieve the target of economic stability and self-reliance as women are 52% of the total population of Pakistan. "Our women entrepreneurs are working under the same macro, regulatory and institutional framework as their male counterparts in a free market mechanism," he said adding that there was no support and encouragement to the women entrepreneurs from government and they were working under their own initiatives or activities.
He said that FPCCI had been encouraging women entrepreneurs by giving them equal opportunities to participate in the international trade fairs and delegations on subsidised conditions and many chairpersons of the FPCCI standing committees were women.
"To encourage the women-owned businesses, a Best Lady Exporter Gold Medal has been instituted by the FPCCI, which is bestowed to a female entrepreneur who demonstrates the best export performance," he said urging that it is time to recognize that enhanced women participation in modern society has become mandatory to ensure prosperous economy and as such they need more freedom to play a greater role in the socio-economic growth of the country.