Women entrepreneurs critical of FPCCI's attitude

Women entrepreneurs have regretted that genuine women, who are endeavouring to work alongside male counterparts for the economic and industrial development of the country, have been kept away from interacting with the visiting Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) delegation. A leading women entrepreneur, Yasmeen Hasnain, who is a member of the Standing Committees for Women Entrepreneurs of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), told Business Recorder that while the KCCI was encouraging women to participate in the Chamber's activities, the unity of the FPCCI's Standing Committee for Women Entrepreneurs was being destroyed by group politics.
She said Rukhsana Jehangir had been picked up to head the committee in the FPCCI because of her association with a particular group, ignoring fair selection of genuine women.
Yasmeen, who is also founder member of Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said she had prepared a list of 100 women, who were more experienced, but were being kept away from contributing their share towards the nation-building activities.
She said the "so-called" FPCCI women entrepreneurs did not represent the true women entrepreneurs and only those women were being promoted who belonged to the group, now steering the FPCCI affairs.
Yasmeen claimed that she would be bringing foreign investment in the country, adding she was in negotiation with the investors who had shown interest in the establishment of a dollhouse in Karachi.
She regretted though she had visited India in June last year with a Pakistani women entrepreneurs' delegation and had established a good rapport with their Indian counterparts, she was not invited to participate in the deliberations and other functions hosted by the FPCCI in honour of the FICCI delegation, which included several women Indian entrepreneurs as members.
She said she, along with her colleagues, was all appreciative of the policies of President General Pervez Musharraf, who had left the door open for women entrepreneurs and wanted them to be an active participants and play an active role in the economic and industrial development of the country.
She said she was organising women entrepreneurs to challenge the FPCCI's attitude towards them and women were determined to play their due role in translating the vision of the President of a progressive and enlightened Pakistan into a reality.